Customs impound illegally imported readymade garments worth Rs. 150mn

Sri Lanka Customs on Tuesday (Feb.13) foiled an attempt to smuggle in 4 container loads of readymade garments worth approximately Rs. 150 million.

The shipment, falsely declared as fabric, had been sent from Malaysia. Around 44,000 readymade garments were recovered from each container.

Had the containers been cleared undetected, the government would have incurred a loss to the tune of Rs. 60 million in tax revenues, Customs officials revealed.

The consignees of this shipment were identified as apparel companies located in Wattala, Colombo and Panadura.

Additionally, two other illegally imported containers carrying 12,688kg of black grams worth Rs. 8.8 million were also impounded by the Customs officials. These shipments had been brought into the island by falsely declaring them as rice.

Customs said the government would have lost tax revenues of Rs. 3.8 million had these containers been given clearance.

Finance State Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, who inspected the seized goods, instructed the Customs officials to take necessary measures to confiscate them.