Chinese arriving in Norway with burlap sacks full of coins

Gardermoen .Customs at Oslo Airport.Photo: Tollvesenet / NTB scanpix

The officers at Oslo airport raised their eyebrows when they saw a Chinese wander through customs control with four burlap sacks full of Norwegian 10øre and 20 kroner coins on the trolley.

The 29-year-old with the somewhat special luggage arrived from Shanghai via Moscow in the evening last Friday.

– The luggage trolley was a wheeled suitcase and four colorful burlap sacks. He was to stay with a friend in Oslo five days, said office leader Hans Wilhelmsen.

– He said that the coins were purchased from several coin dealers in China, but the Chinese banks would not redeem the coins, which he said he had bought for 15,000 kroner, says Wilhelmsen.

But the value was a good deal higher. After a possibly very extensive  counting job  the customs came  to the conclusion that the coins were worth 220,970.

The coins weighed a total of 125 kilograms. The man and the coins seized were handed over to the  police at the main airport, says Wilhelmsen.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today