Sri Lanka Customs destroyed 8.7 million illegally imported foreign cigarettes worth over LKR 1.2 billion yesterday (4th). These cigarettes had been seized in recent years while being smuggled into the country.
The destruction took place under the supervision of Sri Lanka Customs at the designated facility within the Lanka Tobacco Company premises. According to Customs Media Spokesman and Additional Director General, Sivaly Arukgoda, the cigarettes had been imported from Dubai, Pakistan, and China.
These confiscated cigarettes were seized in 2018, 2022, and 2024 and were destroyed following official investigations and government confiscation procedures. Arukgoda further stated that had these cigarettes bypassed Customs, the government would have lost over LKR 1.8 billion in tax revenue.
He emphasized that Sri Lanka Customs continuously works to prevent illegal cigarette imports to safeguard lawful tax revenue. In the past year alone, the government collected LKR 141 billion in excise taxes from locally manufactured cigarettes.
The event was attended by Sri Lanka Customs Director General Sanjeewa Nonis, Additional Director General Sivaly Arukgoda, other Customs officials, and senior management representatives from Lanka Tobacco Company.
