Lankan company rewards for seized Chinese cigarettes

Jun 01, 2017

Customs sources say a local company notorious for cigarettes is rewarding officers of the Customs and law enforcement agencies who seize cigarettes that are being imported illegally from China.

According to the sources, even as the officers are officially rewarded a certain percentage of the fine imposed on the guilty parties, this company is rewarding them thus with the intention of maintaining its cigarette market monopoly in the country.

When contacted, several Customs investigations officers confirmed this and said Chinese cigarettes were increasingly making their way into the island. Chinese-made cigarettes are being smuggled into Sri Lanka because Chinese nationals in the country do not like the locally-available cigarettes.

Kusal Jayampathy