Jan 28, Colombo: Sri Lanka Customs has seized 16,000 kilos of beetroot worth over Rs. 3 million, illegally imported under the guise of potatoes, Customs Media Spokesman, Deputy Director Sudaththa Silva said.

Mr. Sudaththa Silva said the Customs officers at the Gray Line 2 container inspection yard under the Central Cargo Examination Division of Sri Lanka Customs found the carefully hidden beetroot consignment while inspecting two suspicious refrigerated containers imported from Pakistan.

A Wattala-based company had told Customs that the containers contained 53,000 kilograms of potatoes imported from India.

The beetroot was packed in bags similar to bags containing potatoes and carefully hidden in the deep end of the containers.

The Customs spokesman said that the wharf clerk who had come for clearance of the containers was being detained and questioned by the Customs. Further investigations are being carried out by the Customs officers at the Gray Line 2 container inspection yard under the Central Cargo Examination Division of the Sri Lanka Customs.