Passenger held with Anthurium bushes at BIA
November 8, 2018 06:52 pm
A Sri Lankan passenger has been detained at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) while attempting to smuggle 470 bushes of Anthurium plants into the country.
The fifty-year-old from Thimbirigaskatuwa who arrived from Bangkok at 11.55pm on Tuesday (06) was apprehended by Customs Officers of the Biodiversity Cultural and National Heritage Protection Unit at the Green Channel of the Arrival Terminal.
He was detained for attempting to smuggle 470 bushes of Anthurium plants valued at Rs 500,000 into the country violating the Customs Ordinance reading with the Plant Protection Act of 1999.
The Anthurium plants were declared forfeit and a penalty was imposed on the suspect by the Inquiry Officer after the formal customs inquiry.
