• Assures there were no drugs, arms but industrial goods, raw materials

Sri Lanka Customs says that the 323 shipping containers released without inspection contained industrial goods and raw materials, according to the documents declared by the importers before they were released. Customs can assure that the containers did not carry arms or drugs, the Customs Spokesperson said.

Customs discussed the matter during a special press conference held yesterday (8) in response to allegations regarding the controversial release of these containers. 

At the press briefing, Customs Media Spokesperson and Additional Director General of Customs Seevali Arukgoda stated that all necessary steps were taken to release the containers in question only after thoroughly checking the import documents. He affirmed that due to the procedures followed by Customs, he believes the containers did not contain any illegal items.

He added: “These imported containers contained raw materials needed for industries, such as plastics, yarn, chemicals, automobile spare parts, animal feed, machinery, pesticides, cement, iron pipes, fertilisers, and wood. The containers were mostly imported from India and China, but also from countries like Indonesia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Switzerland, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates.”

He further explained that due to the methods followed during the release process, Customs is confident that the containers only contained the goods declared by the importers. The release was carried out after thoroughly examining all import documents. He further added: “In recent times, there were accusations that these containers contained weapons, gold, or drugs. However, because of the selection method we used, we can confidently say that there was nothing illegal in them.”

He added that given the widespread discussions surrounding the matter, Customs has initiated a post-clearance audit. The Post-Clearance Department is currently conducting this audit, and a high-level committee appointed by the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance is also investigating the entire process.

“All relevant officers, including the Director General of Customs, have appeared before the committee and provided detailed explanations. We have also shared information with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). We can confirm that no external party influenced the container release process. I can say that with absolute certainty.”

He clarified that the current controversy concerns containers released on 18 January. “Among the containers released that day, there were 180 importers. We received 234 Customs entry numbers from these importers. Based on those entries, we released 309 containers. In total, there were 371 containers. Of these, 62 were auto-released by our database system, and the remaining 309 were released through the committee. We have all the relevant information: the names and addresses of the importers, company details, board of directors, and the names of the clearing agents. We even have the container numbers and have provided all this data to the appropriate authorities.”

He further emphasised that Sri Lanka Customs uses a risk management system to decide which shipments require inspection.

“We release around 60% of cargo without inspection based on risk assessment. This is not new; it has always been the practice and will continue to be. We make these decisions based on risk, not randomly,” he added.