Kuwaiti couple with dog in BIA fiasco sentenced to 6 months in prison

• Given a suspended 5-year prison sentence
• Fined Rs. 9,000 each by Court
• Female fined Rs. 100,000 by Customs Department
• Rs. 15,000 penalty to have dog released

By Skandha Gunasekara

The Kuwaiti couple who assaulted Customs officials in July this year has been sentenced to six months imprisonment as well as a suspended sentence of five years imprisonment.

Customs Media Spokesman Sunil Jayaratne told the Daily FT that the Negombo Magistrate’s Court issued this verdict last Friday.

In addition, the Courts also imposed a penalty of Rs. 9000 each for the incident.

Apart from the judicial verdict, the Customs Department, upon concluding its investigation, fined the female suspect Rs. 100,000 for failing to follow quarantine procedures of the Sri Lanka Customs Department.

“They had some documents regarding the transportations of the dog but she refused to follow the quarantines of the Customs Department. Therefore, she was fined Rs. 100,000,” Jayaratne said.

Jayaratne went on to say that the dog was released following another fine of Rs. 15,000.

The Kuwaiti couple, who arrived at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in July this year, got into an altercation with Customs officials concerning the smuggling in of their pet dog.

Their dog, a Burmese Mastiff, was brought into the country without following proper Customs procedures for when transporting animals.

When the couple was confronted with this fact, the couple vehemently protested after which the male assaulted Customs officials.

Both individuals were taken into custody and produced before the Negombo Magistrate’s Court.

The pet dog was confined to quarantine.