Close to 45,000 liters of beer seized at Svinesund

Border control.SVINESUND.Border control. Photo: Bjørn Sigurdsøn / SCANPIX

Customs agents at Svinesund stopped two Polish trailers full of beer early Monday morning. The seizure comes to a total of NOK 2.58 million in unpaid taxes.

 

In the two Polish-registered trailers, the customs agents found 44,820 liters of beer, reports NRK.

– “This is a historically large batch of beer. That is the largest seizure we’ve ever taken in any day here at Svinesund,” says chief executive Øystein Børmer.

According to the Director of Customs, the trailers came in to Norway at two to three minute intervals. Both the drivers and the beer are from Poland. The police have taken over the investigation of the case.

– “The two Polish men have been questioned and are being detained for four weeks. In addition, the trailers have been seized,” says Per Ivar Thomasrud ​​from the Østfold Police to NRK.

The seizure are numbers 15 and 16 in over 10,000 liters this year and the fourth largest seizure made by the Swinesund customs agents in three months.

Børmer believes there are big networks that are behind the smuggling attempts on beer, and he warns people not to buy alcohol that has been transported illegally into Norway.

“It may seem innocent with a cheap six pack of beer, while at the same time supporting organized crime. Additionally, you undermine Norwegian jobs, avoid taxes and risk taking into account that you do not really know what these cans really contain,” he says.

 

NTB Scanpix / Norway Today