Sri Lanka Customs fraud allegations surface as MP D.V. Chanaka claims an investigation report involving undeclared vehicle parts was suppressed.
Sri Lanka Customs fraud allegations erupted in Parliament after MP D.V. Chanaka claimed an investigation report into a major container irregularity had been deliberately withheld.
Chanaka alleged that the case involved a 40-foot container brought into Sri Lanka through the Customs Red Channel. He said the container carried vehicle spare parts, engines and seats.
According to the MP, the first two inspection teams reported no irregularities. However, he claimed a third examination by the Customs Central Investigation Unit identified 85 categories of goods.
He further alleged that 45 categories had not been declared to Customs, covering a total of 355 individual items.
Sri Lanka Customs Fraud Claim Details Container Findings
Chanaka told Parliament that investigators also discovered 122 vehicle seats without the required import licences and 18 tyres fitted with rims inside the container.
Sri Lanka Customs operates inspection and enforcement mechanisms as part of its responsibility for border protection, revenue collection and enforcement of Customs laws.
The MP then made a more serious political allegation.
He claimed a Customs officer allegedly connected to the incident later became a close associate of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and now holds a senior position at the Presidential Secretariat.
Chanaka further alleged that an intelligence investigation report on the matter had been forwarded to the President through the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance.
However, he accused the President of withholding the report from the public to protect the official concerned.
The Morning Telegraph has not independently verified those allegations, and the supplied account does not include a response from the President, Presidential Secretariat or the official concerned.
The claims emerge amid wider scrutiny of Customs procedures. Parliament has separately investigated the controversial release of hundreds of containers without mandatory physical inspections, with Customs officials summoned before a Select Committee.
Chanaka called on the President to address the latest allegations publicly and disclose the investigation findings.
He also alleged that protecting individuals accused of serious wrongdoing, particularly through political influence over public institutions, could undermine public confidence in governance and accountability.
