Excise Department Commissioner General M.J. Gunasiri said nearly 9,600 well-trained officers have been deployed countrywide by the Department to collect revenue from illegal liquor sales and industrial sources. Eighteen large-scale rackets of illegal foreign liquor sales were busted last year and this year. The offenders were produced in court and fined, he told the Sunday Observer. The Department collected Rs. 139,000 million in revenue for 2021. However, during the first five months of this year only Rs. 71,000 million was earned by the Excise Department, he said.
Gunasiri said the Department targets Rs.180,000 million this year from consumers and fines imposed on those who violated the regulations of the Excise Department in Sri Lanka.
Nearly 1,890 investigative officers are deployed in the Kurunegala and Puttalam districts of the North Western Province to nab errant liquor shop owners, liquor sellers, errant consumers and racketeers, he added.