Container load of industrial chemicals from S’pore turns out to be 15, 200 litres of ethanol

Customs examining contraband (pic courtesy Customs)

By Prabhath Withana

The Customs Central Investigation Bureau officers, on Monday, took into custody a container with 15,200 litres of ethanol worth Rs. 20 million imported from Singapore.

Customs Director General Uditha Jayasinghe said the importers had declared that it was a consignment of industrial chemicals.

Jayasinghe said that the container reached the country on August 9 last year for a company owned by a person who had not engaged in any business activities since 2016.

“The Customs officers sent letters to the company that imported the cargo, informing them to take steps to clear the container from the port. But no one responded. Subsequently, the customs officers decided to open and inspect the container. They found 76 barrels of ethanol each containing 200 litres, while it was declared to contain 12,220 kg of an Industrial Chemical,” Jayasinghe said.

If this consignment had been removed from the port and utilised to distill alcoholic beverages, the total revenue loss from tax due to the government and non-declaration of excise duty would have been Rs. 60 million, the Customs Director General said. 

The import of ethanol to Sri Lanka had been prohibited under the Import and Export Control Act as a public policy as well as under the Excise Act, he said.