Customs officials said the cigarettes were discovered during a routine inspection of two Sri Lankan passengers who had attempted to leave the airport without declaring any goods through the Green Channel, which is reserved for travellers with nothing to declare.
The suspects, a 34-year-old man from Gampaha employed in Dubai as a work supervisor and a 25-year-old woman from Kandy working as a teacher in Dubai, had arrived in the country on a FlyDubai flight from Dubai at around 3.15 a.m. today.
Upon checking their luggage, Customs officers found 500 cartons containing about 100,000 foreign-made cigarettes of the brands Manchester and Platinum concealed inside eight suitcases.
The total value of the seized cigarettes has been estimated at around Rs. 15 million.
Both passengers were taken into custody and Katunayake Airport Customs has commenced further investigations into the incident.
