Excise seizes personal collection of expensive and rare spirits

A personal collection of expensive and rare spirits worth over Rs.300,000 belonging to an expatriate worker in Italy was seized by Colombo Excise Station officials from his residence in Wennappuwa yesterday.

The Colombo Excise Station officials on information received by Deputy Excise Commissioner Kapila Kumarasinghe raided the house with the backing of sleuths of Wayamba Excise Division (Northwestern) and seized the goods.

OIC Colombo Excise Station Chief Inspector Chanaka Nanayakkara said the officials found the owner’s mother was present at home at the time of the detection and had asked her to open and show a locked cupboard that contained the stock of bottles.

The stock contained 52 one litre bottles of a variety of expensive brands of spirits like whiskey, gin, vodka and wines. These also consisted of certain rare editions of particular brands of booze, the sources said.

Since the Excise law allows only possession of 7.5 litres of spirits for an individual, the stock was taken into custody along with the woman who was in charge at the moment.

Her son who is said to have visited the country occasionally had brought the spirits along with him from time to time.

Excise Inspectors Sanjaya Nishantha, Lakmal Senanayake and Sunil Jayasinghe, Excise Sergeant Major Ruwan Kumanayake, Excise Sergeant M. B. Diwulkumbura, Excise Corporal Jayasiri Dias, Women’s Excise Corporal Devika Nilanthi, Excise Guards Dhananjaya Pushpakumara, Ravindra Perera, M. D. Indika, Anura Peiris, Nalin Priyankara, Nihal Perera and Women’s Excise Guard Kavitha Sandeepani conducted the raid on the instructions of Assistant Excise Commissioner Colombo K. M. J. Bandara, Excise Superintendent Colombo Vijitha Gamanayake, Excise Superintendent (Wayamba) Upul Seneviratne and OIC Colombo Excise Station Chief Inspector Chanaka Nanayakkara.

The stock of liquor along with the woman was to be produced before Marawila Magistrate’s Court yesterday.