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BIA Customs make biggest gold detection with help from India’s DRI
View(s):The nabbing of four Sri Lankan passengers attempting to smuggle gold estimated to be worth over Rs 400mn by Customs at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) was facilitated by India’s Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) sharing information with authorities in Colombo, Customs officials said.
The arrests were made on Friday. Three of the passengers were travelling from Dubai to Sri Lanka via Chennai, India. They carried gold ornaments, jewellery and even gold powder concealed in underwear, the officials said. It was one of the biggest gold detections by Customs at BIA, and was made possible because of detailed input from the DRI.
State Minister Siyambalapitiya being shown the gold items recovered from the four passengers
The smuggling of gold deprives the Government of vital tax revenue at a time when urgent steps are being taken to fix a dire fiscal deficit. Just last month, the State Minister of Finance directed the Customs Department to take strong steps to clamp down gold smuggling, even decreeing that nobody would be allowed to enter the country wearing gold above 22 karats.
“The Government has decided to take legal action against those who wear unnecessary amounts of gold jewellery as they fly in with the aim of
doing illegal business,” Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, the State Minister, was quoted in the statement.
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