News
Businessman arrested for attempting to smuggle in 16,000 litres of ethanol
A businessman from Borella who was taken into custody for attempting to smuggle 16,000 litres of ethanol into the country has been remanded till tomorrow. The stock valued at over Rs 3.2 million was seized by Customs officials on Friday following the detection of barrels inside a container when it was put through the scanning machine.
The ethanol imported from the city of Klang in Malaysia had been declared by the importer as 575 MDF boards. Customs officials are investigating the clearing agent located at Kotahena in connection with this case, Customs spokesman Leslie Gamini said.
The duty payable on the declared MDF boards is around Rs. 200, 000 whereas the duty payable on the stock on ethanol imported was close to Rs. 10 million, he said.
The detections were made by officials of the Customs Revenue Task Force (RTF).