Two including an Immigration Officer Arrested for Smuggling Rs.2.7mn Gold

A 31-year-old passenger, from Kattankudy and a 55-year-old immigration officer from Puttalam arrived from Kuala Lumpur by flight MH179 at 12.10am this morning were arrested by Customs Officers  on duty at the airport’s arrival lounge today.

Customs Officers detected  4 packets containing 392 gold chains weighing 3,300g  valued at Rs 18,153,025 and 18 gold slabs weighing 1,800 grams  valued at Rs 9,000,000 concealed in a brief case belonging to the immigration officer.

Customs spokesman Leslie Gamini said that the total weight of the seized is 5.1kg and  the total estimated value is Rs 27,153,025.

He stated that the investigations are being carried out by a team led by Deputy Superintendent of Customs, Nishantha Jayasinghe.

The customs inquiry will be held by Deputy Director of Customs, Anura Walawage, following which the two suspects including the immigration officer along with the gold seized will be handed over to the Customs Investigation Division for onward steps, the spokesman said.