Women in gold smuggling racket arrested

Rasika Somarathna

Three women who tried to smuggle unfinished gold jewelery worth around Rs. 5.3 million to India were nabbed by Customs sleuths at the Katunayake airport last morning.

Customs spokesman Lesly Gamini said the women from Kotahena area were bound for Chennai.

“The Customs officers detected them wearing rough gold chains and bangles weighing 1,055 grams” he added.

Gamini said, the three women who are in their early forties were frequent visitors to India. According to Indian media, the high import duty on gold, local taxes and restrictions on imports are leading to a rise in smuggling of the commodity into the country.

He said the Customs was conducting further investigations into the matter.