Lankan nabbed with Rs. 2.3 mn in undeclared funds

A 46-year-old man was arrested this morning at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) while attempting to smuggle out Rs. 2.3 million rupees to Dubai, Customs Media Spokesman Deputy Director Sunil Jayaratne said.

He said the suspect was arrested following a tip-off that was received by customs officers. The Customs Narcotic Control Unit arrested the suspect.

Thousand rupee notes equivalent to Rs. 2, 320,000 was found hidden in his hand baggage. “The Sri Lankan currency was taken to be sold to smugglers in the Middle East who use this money to pay the salary of Sri Lankan workers, thereby making the need for them to exchange their currency when they get back to Sri Lanka redundant,”mr. Jayaratne said.

He said because of such practices the country will lose foreign exchange while Sri Lankan migrant workers themselves lose the opportunity to get a higher sum for their hard earned savings.

Mr. Jayaratne said the prescribed amount of currency that could be taken out of the country was equivalent to US $5,000 (Rs.768,150) which should be declared to the customs and should be recorded on the individual’s passport.

The detection was made under the supervision of Assistant Customs Superintendent D M R Cyril of the Narcotics Control Unit. The investigation was carried out by Assistant Customs Superintendents K. A. R. L. Ariyasena, A. D. Nilanga and K.B. Bandara.

The contraband currency was taken into the custody of the Customs Deputy Director Jagath Obeysekara. The suspect was later released after a penalty of Rs. 100,000was levied from him.