Earns Rs.75.6 Mn as Govt revenue

Excise Department has made a record figure of detections in the first quarter of this year amounting to 19,696, which is 1,398 detections exceeding the same period last year.

From January 1, 2018 to April 30, 2018 the department had arrested 19, 672 persons from 19, 696 detections in connection with committing crimes in violation of Excise Ordinance countrywide. Ninety percent of the arrested were males and 10% were females.

Excise Spokesman Deputy Commissioner Kapila Kumarasinghe told the Daily Mirror during the first quarter of 2017 the department had made 17,987 arrests, which is 1,685 arrests less than this year.

The detections had been categorized under the offenses related to illicit spirits, narcotic crimes and tobacco related offenses.

The department had made 15,226 detections of manufacturing, possession and sale of illicit spirits, 2,469 detections of sale and possession of Heroin and Ganja and 1, 977 detections of sale and possession of counterfeit cigarettes and smoking in public places.

The department had earned Rs.75,610,500 (Rs.75.6 million) as revenue to the government through the fines imposed, which is also a record high compared to revenue earned in the first quarter of 2017 that was Rs.69,466,800 (Rs.69.4 million).

Compared to last year a sum of Rs.6.14 million had been earned as revenue this year, the Spokesman said.

However, offences related violation of Excise license regulations had dropped by 129 cases which is 1,409 detections this year.

The detections were handled by Excise Superintendents in respective division countrywide on the instructions of Excise Commissioner General R. Semasinghe and Deputy Excise Commissioner (Legal) M. B. Wansuriya.