Customs officials at Vienna Airport have made a major arrest of historic proportions: on October 31, three smugglers from Cairo were stopped with a total of 852 cartons of cigarettes in their luggage!
The customs officials at Vienna-Schwechat Airport are jubilant. In a record discovery in the autumn, 170,000 cigarettes, approximately 50 kilos of shisha tobacco and 6,276 potency pills were seized. The customs officials were aware of the smugglers in advance – based on careful risk assessments during the flight from Cairo. The investigators therefore initially arrested a 61-year-old Italian for a check. He was traveling with four suitcases, which were checked with an X-ray machine in the so-called green canal. The suitcases contained only cigarettes and hookah tobacco.
Shortly afterwards, his two accomplices, a 30-year-old Frenchman and a 49-year-old Egyptian, were heading for the exit when they noticed their knowledge was being checked. They then tried to avoid customs control by having the suitcases stored. However, the attempt was of little use to them and the experienced officers also asked them to visit.
80,000 euros fine per offender
Financial criminal proceedings have been initiated against the three smugglers and they risk fines of up to 80,000 euros per perpetrator. Customs team leader Roland Karner, who has worked at Vienna Airport since 1991, says: “We have never encountered such volumes in travel traffic. Over the years we have increasingly refined our interaction between people, technology and sniffer dogs. In this way we efficiently prevent smuggling and protect properly operating companies against illegal black trading.”
Minister of Finance and “Chief Customs Officer” Gunter Mayr congratulates his colleagues at the airport: “Our customs officers regularly achieve significant successes, both in the freight sector and in the travel industry. When the right suitcases are selected from millions of suitcases, it becomes clear how professionally the fight against smuggling is being conducted here. I congratulate my colleagues on this record catch.”
Source: Krone
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