STF Organized Crime Unit I OIC R.A.K.A Dissanayake and a team of officers recently took into custody a container of cigarettes which had been smuggled into the country duty free and released through Sri Lanka Customs deceptively.
The operation was done according to information received by the STF Organized Crime Prevention I Officers, under the direction and instruction of Commanding Officer DIG Waruna Jayasundara, and under the direct supervision of ASP D.P.U. Kodithuwakku.
Two container trucks with the same registration number plates of the same type and same colour had been used and while a container with a textile import licence was being inspected, another container similar to that vehicle had left the Customs premises with the illegally imported cigarettes.
This racket which was being carried out with deception was raided based on intense effort and long-term intelligence. Four million cigarettes were found in 200,000 packets in the container truck and the total value of the stock of cigarettes is around Rs. 280 million. The tax loss to the Government of Sri Lanka on these cigarettes smuggled in duty free is over Rs. 200 million.
Five suspects between the ages of 29 and 48 have been arrested with the stock of cigarettes and handed over to the Peliyagoda Police for further investigation.