Lithuanian smuggler caught at Swedish border: Half a million cigarettes and 5,000 liters of liquor seized
In August, customs officers at the Magnormoen checkpoint seized over two and a half million cigarettes and 5,000 liters of liquor.
“The driver, in his late 40s, was a Lithuanian. He was alone in the vehicle and presented customs papers for the goods he was transporting,” section chief Kjersti Bråthen at the Customs in Kongsvinger told Glåmdalen.
The man told the customs officers that he was on his way to Bergen and that he had transported similar cargo to Norway before.
When asked if he had other goods inside the vehicle, he said that he had one carton of cigarettes, some beer, and a bottle of liquor, according to Bråthen.
Suspicions confirmed
The customs officers decided to unload the cargo.
“Our suspicions were confirmed,” Bråthen said, adding that they discovered large amounts of hidden cigarettes and vodka in the vehicle.
The count eventually stopped at 2,550,400 cigarettes and 5,017 liters of liquor. The tax evasion amounted to NOK 10,961,239.
The seizure is the largest cigarette seizure made on a road in Norway so far this year and is the largest since the customs officers at Svinesund seized 5.39 million cigarettes in June of 2018.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
