Ali Sabri Raheem, a Puttalam District MP, was arrested by customs officials yesterday at Katunayake’s Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) for the possession of unregistered gold and cell phones. He was afterwards fined and freed.
According to Sri Lanka Customs, the MP was fined Rs. 7.5 million and freed after making the payment, but the unreported gold and cellphones were seized.
The MP was detained at the airport yesterday morning (April 24) as she tried to exit the building with a stock of undeclared gold and mobile phones, the combined worth of which was allegedly over Rs. 78 million.
On Tuesday at about 9.45 a.m., Raheem took a Flydubai trip back to the island from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
At the airport’s VIP terminal, “Gold Route,” he was arrested by representatives of the Revenue Task Force Directorate of Sri Lanka Customs.
The customs officers searched his suitcase and found 3.39kg of unreported gold jewelry and gold cookies worth LKR 74 million.
In addition, his suitcase included 91 cell phones worth a combined LKR 4.2 million.
Later, the arrest of the Puttalam District MP was also reported to Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena.
The MP was sent to the Revenue Task Force Directorate’s branch in Orugodawatta for additional inquiries after being interrogated by officials for about five hours.
