Cologne/Bonn Airport Customs finds nearly 70 kilos of drugs in Christmas packages
Cologne/Bonn · At Cologne/Bonn Airport, Cologne Customs has found more than 70 kilos of drugs in Christmas packages since December 24. The estimated street value is around 950,000 euros.
Customs officials at Cologne/Bonn Airport have found nearly 70 kilos of drugs disguised as Christmas packages since December 24. According to Jens Ahland, press spokesman for the main customs office in Cologne, the packages were "deliberately disguised as Christmas gift shipments in order to disappear in the flood of more than half a million parcels per night.”
The daily challenge of customs workers, he said, was to fish out the right packages from the huge mass. Hidden among Christmas sweaters, toy packaging and Christmas decorations were the drugs. Customs officials also found kilograms of foil-wrapped marijuana lying in the packages without camouflage.
According to the main customs office, the packages opened by customs contained "around 51 kilograms of marijuana, nearly six kilograms of amphetamines, more than four kilograms of heroin, almost 1.7 kilograms of cocaine, over 1.8 kilograms of hashish and around five kilograms of fruit gums containing THC." Customs estimates the street value of the drugs found at around 950,000 euros.
For investigative reasons, no details can be given about the routing of the packages. The investigation is now being continued by the Essen Customs Investigation Office.
(Original text: Jasmin Kaub / Translation: Carol Kloeppel)
