Three individuals, including a Customs Officer, have been arrested for attempting to smuggle in foreign cigarettes worth Rs. 9 million.
The suspects had been arrested while attempting to leave the Katunayake Airport with the cigarettes.
A businessman and his assistant had arrived from Dubai along with the foreign cigarettes.
The Customs Officer had then entered the airport with his official identification card and attempted to take the consignment of cigarettes out of the airport.
However, officials from the Police Narcotics Unit (PNB) foiled their plan, arresting them at the airport premises.
The PNB officials had seized 300 cartons of foreign cigarettes from the suspects’ possession.
The suspects are due to be produced before Negombo magistrate’s Court today. (Newswire)