A long-standing racket involving the adulteration of coconut oil by mixing it with palm oil to be sold as genuine coconut oil to customers countrywide was uncovered by Dambulla Police STF flying squad when they raided a facility near the 7th km post at Enamalpotha Galewela in the wee hours of Monday.
The businessman involved was taken into custody along with a lorry and a double cab. Police said they also seized over 25,000 litres of adulterated coconut oil during the raid.
The businessman had been arrested the previous night for allegedly engaging a team of men on a treasure hunting expedition in the backyard of the premises. A suspect, arrested in this connection on integration, had spilled the beans about the coconut oil adulteration racket going on in the premises.
Inspector Lal Jayatilleke of the Dambulla STF camp said investigations revealed that palm oil bought at Rs. 260 per litre was being mixed with coconut oil to be sold as genuine coconut oil at Rs. 370 per litre to take advantage of the sharp increase in coconut oil price and make a quick buck.
Galewela PHI H.K. Dayaratne who thanked the STF officers for unraveling the racket, said even though they raided the facility several times in the past to uncover the racket, the businessman evaded detection by misguiding them.
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