CUSTOMS THWARTS MAN SMUGGLING OVER 1, 000 EXOTIC FISH FROM SINGAPORE

Several hundreds of fish arrive dead due to poor packaging techniques

Aman who tried to smuggle in a large stock of exotic live ornamental fish from Singapore by air in his baggage sans relevant clearance was thwarted by Customs officials at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) yesterday, whilst several hundred of them found dead up on arrival due to poor packaging techniques.

Customs officials stationed at the airport’s arrival terminal on suspicion searched the passenger who tried to come out from the Customs ‘Nothing to Declare’ Green Channel.

The suspect had arrived in the country on Singapore Airlines Flight SQ 468 around 2.00 a.m. on Sunday and when searched the live fish were seized.

The Customs officials found a number of small polythene sachets filled with water carrying a variety of exotic fish in different forms and sizes, packed in his baggages. They found 1,022 fish fingerlings worth Rs.611, 133.

However, a large number of these fish amounting to several hundred were found dead on arrival due to the insufficient space in the polythene sachets that they were being carried by the man.

Customs Spokesman Director Sunil Jayaratne told the Daily Mirror the suspect, who is said to be a businessman from Ambalangoda did not possess either clearance from the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources or any animal quarantine certificate to transport such live animals.

Having inquired the suspect the Customs learnt that the man hardly had any idea in transporting such delicate subject as he had put a number of fish in single sachet barely making them move within.

The Customs initially planned to re-export the stock of live fish to Singapore as they could not be released in Sri Lankan waters over quarantine issues, Spokesman Jayaratne said.

However, the animal quarantine specialist doctor at the airport told the Customs officials that sending them back also tricky looking at the state of the remaining fish. He had seen thin chances of the remaining fish be alive another 24-hours.

Customs probe was carried out by Superintendents A. P. Kankanige, Eric Perera and G. S. Chandrasiri with Assistant Superintendents P. N. A. Dayananda, R. D. S. V. Randeniya and M. P. D. Lanka on the instructions of Customs Additional Director General Saman Ranawana, Director (BIA) M. A. Karunaratne and Deputy Director N .D. K. Seneviratne.