24-year-old businessman arrested with foreign-manufactured cigarettes at BIA
March 9, 2026 08:06 am
A Sri Lankan passenger has been arrested at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) by officers of the Airport Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) while attempting to smuggle a consignment of foreign-manufactured cigarettes into the country.
The arrested suspect, a 24-year-old businessman from Negombo, was taken into custody, yesterday (08), officials said.
The seized consignment of foreign-manufactured cigarettes is estimated to have a street value of Rs. 5.1 million.
He had arrived at the airport at 9.50 p.m. from Dubai onboard Emirates flight EK-650.
Upon inspection, officers discovered 170 cartons containing 34,000 sticks of foreign-manufactured cigarettes, which had been concealed inside his luggage.
The suspect was released on police bail and is scheduled to be produced before the Negombo Magistrate’s Court on March 11 for further legal proceedings.
