Man nabbed at BIA while attempting to smuggle birds

Atapattu Bandara and Kumarasiri Prasad

A Sri Lankan man was arrested while trying to smuggle eight birds at the Bandaranaike International Airport yesterday. The birds brought from Thailand are valued at Rs 800,000.

Four parakeets and four ducklings were found in the suspect's possession. The man was fined Rs 100.000. The authorities were directed to send the birds back to the country from where they were brought.

The suspect was arrested following investigations by a team of Customs officers headed by Deputy Custom Superintendent Wimal Piyadasa on the direction of Deputy Customs Director H R Raj Mohan. Meanwhile, a man was nabbed with seeds weighing 200 kilograms valued at Rs one million while returning from Chennai yesterday.

Custom sources said the suspect had attempted to escape leaving the bags containing the seeds at the airport. Seeds cannot be imported without Agriculture Department approval under the Seeds Protection Act 1996.