Four Sri Lankan passengers were arrested by Customs officers at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) this morning while attempting to smuggle in a large consignment of whiskey and cardamom valued at approximately Rs. 15 million.

The suspects, residents of Colombo and Hatton had arrived in the country on IndiGo flight 6E-1183 from Bangalore, India, which landed at 1:00 a.m.

Customs officials uncovered the contraband during baggage checks, finding 378 bottles of whiskey and 132 kilograms of cardamom concealed in 20 pieces of luggage. The items were reportedly purchased from a duty-free shopping complex at a foreign airport.

The four individuals have been detained, and further investigations are being carried out by the Airport Customs Division.

The Treasury has warned the Central Bank that the enthusiasm shown in the import of vehicles after the ban was lifted could have a negative impact on foreign reserves and urged that precautionary measures be taken.

A senior Treasury official said that in the five months after the restrictions on the import of vehicles were lifted, Letters of Credit to the value of US$ 742 million have been opened, against the proposed target of allowing up to US$ 1 billion.

Accordingly, the Treasury has advised the Central Bank that as the opening of the LCs and imports has been at a rate faster than anticipated, it should closely study the trend of imports and take remedial measures in advance.

The Treasury has pointed out that the outflow of US dollars could have a serious impact on the foreign currency reserves and also on the exchange rates. As a result, there could be an impact on imports of essentials, including fuel.

The longstanding vehicle import ban was lifted in February this year, and so far more than 18,000 vehicles have been brought into the country, while import levies have earned a tax revenue of Rs 220 billion, Customs Spokesman Seevali Arukgoda told the Sunday Times.

The revenue from vehicle imports has made a significant contribution to the taxes in the form of customs levies amounting to Rs one trillion so far for the year. The Customs revenue target for this year is Rs 2.1 trillion.

(sundaytimes.lk)

(Except for the headline, this story, originally published by sundaytimes.lk has not been edited by SLM staff)

The Department of Examinations announced that the results of the 2024 GCE Ordinary Level (O/L) examination will be released before July 15.

The department stated that the evaluation of answer sheets is currently in its final stage.

A total of 478,182 candidates sat for the O/L examination held in March, of which 398,182 are school candidates.