Sri Lanka, July 28 -- The Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) has launched an investigation to track down nearly 500 vehicles currently being driven on public roads that were illegally imported into the country and registered while defrauding billions in Customs duties.

It is reported that the majority of these vehicles are luxury models. It is suspected that these vehicles were brought into the country in parts and assembled locally, with the assistance of corrupt officials. Preliminary investigations revealed that corrupt officials from the Department of Motor Traffic also assisted in registering these vehicles.

The TID has taken steps to identify a large number of such vehicles that were fraudulently registered and are currently o...