Cleaning staffer arrested at BIA with stock of gold worth Rs. 58mn

A stock of gold jewelry and gold in gel form worth around Rs. 58 million has been seized while being smuggled out of the airport by a female employee of a private cleaning company at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA).

The contraband was impounded by a group of officials of the Narcotics Control Unit of Sri Lanka Customs this morning (Feb. 10).

The apprehended woman has been identified as a 55-year-old resident of the Miridiyalanda area of Veyangoda.

The suspected woman has confessed to the Sri Lanka Customs that an unidentified lady had given her the parcel containing the stock of gold inside a lavatory of the duty free mall area at the BIA. She has further stated that the said woman promised to pay her Rs. 60,000 after handing over the parcel to a person outside the airport premises.

The seized cache of gold includes gold jewelry weighing 1.4kg, and 1.35kg of gold in gel form which contained around 95% pure gold, according to a spokesman of the Narcotics Control Unit of Sri Lanka Customs.

The officers of Sri Lanka Customs have initiated further investigations regarding the incident.