Five Sri Lankan and Indian passengers attempting to take a stock of gold worth Rs. 160 million from Sri Lanka to India illegally was taken into custody at the BIA departure terminal on March 11 morning. Customs Deputy Director (Legal Affairs) Sudaththa Silva said that a group of officers of the Customs drug control division had arrested four Sri Lankan air passengers aged between 40 and 60 years and a 30-year-old Indian national for this.
They had arrived at the Katunayake Airport to board the SriLankan Airlines flight UL 141 scheduled to leave for Mumbai, India at 1.05 am on March 11. This stock of gold had been hidden very carefully prepared as pieces of gold, gold gel and jewellery in their luggage. Customs officers said that the price of gold in India these days is much higher than Sri Lanka and that racketeers are attempting to take gold from Sri Lanka to India illegally.
The arrests were carried out by a group of officers of the customs drugs control division of the Katunayake Airport based on instructions from Director General of Customs P. B. S. C. Nonis, Senior Customs Director of Social Protection Unit and the Senior Deputy Director of Customs. They are conducting further investigations.
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