Passenger arrested with foreign cigarettes worth Rs. 2.1m at BIA

Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) officers at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake have seized a large consignment of smuggled cigarettes, valued at around Rs. 2.1 million, and arrested a suspect at the arrival terminal this morning (15).

The arrested suspect has been identified as a 36-year-old businessman residing in Colombo 13.

The passenger in question had arrived from Mumbai, India onboard a SriLankan Airlines flight at 10.15 p.m. last night (14), however he had remained at the airport’s duty-free shopping complex until this morning and was arrested while attempting to exit the airport.

A total of 105 cartons containing 21,000 sticks of foreign-manufactured cigarettes were found concealed in his luggage. 

The arrested passenger has been released on police bail and is scheduled to appear before the Negombo Magistrate’s Court on May 22.