Sri Lankan authorities are hunting for a Chinese cigarette smuggling kingpin, the Hong Kong Standard said today.

It said the move came following several detections of illegal hauls at the main airport in the capital Colombo over the past three months.

Customs authorities in Colombo believe it is this mastermind is paying the fines when smugglers are arrested.

One of the biggest hauls was seized from a Chinese woman who tried to conceal Chinese cigarettes worth some US$197,433, it reported.

 Also four Chinese workers at a runway resurfacing project at the international airport were nabbed with illegal cigarettes worth US$394,867.

Four other Chinese smugglers were among those detected.