A Sri Lankan woman has been arrested for allegedly smuggling a stock of gold jewellery into the country without a license and attempting to leave the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) with the jewellery.
The value of the stock of gold jewellery is estimated to be Rs. 36,628,937.27, according to officials.
The 38-year-old businesswoman, a resident of Halgahadeniya Road in Angoda, was arrested by officers of the Airport Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) yesterday (28).
She had arrived at the BIA at around 7:30 a.m. onboard SriLankan Airlines flight UL-226 from Dubai.
Upon inspection, officers had discovered 916 grams of gold bangles and necklaces concealed in 12 parcels inside a backpack she was carrying.
The woman was subsequently handed over to BIA Customs officers for further investigations.
Earlier this morning (29), Customs officials assessed the jewellery at Rs. 36,628,937.27, confiscated the stock and ordered the woman to pay a fine of Rs. 250,000.