Hannover customs seize 3 cannabis seedlings from Austria parcel
Hannover customs officers seized three cannabis seedlings from an Austrian parcel addressed to a Hannover man on 3 November 2026. Customs opened smuggling proceedings, noting seedlings count as cannabis plants and remain subject to the import ban.
🇩🇪 Hannover, Lower Saxony · Germany
Plants destroyed
3
Officers of the Hannover main customs office found three cannabis seedlings in a
parcel from Austria during a parcel check.[1] The parcel was addressed to a
man from Hannover and was checked on 3 November 2026.[1] Customs officers
opened criminal proceedings for attempted unlawful import, termed Bannbruch,
over the shipment.[2] The recipient will receive mail from customs instead of
the seedlings.[1]
The seedlings already count as cannabis plants, unlike propagation material such
as seeds, so they fall under the import ban.[1] Customs can check parcels on a
random basis even within the European Union.[1]
Customs spokeswoman Joline Kassner said online buyers must pay close attention
because the plant’s actual stage decides the case, not whether a website calls
it a cutting or a seedling.[1] No arrest was reported in the case.[2]
Photos and video
Customs photo of the seized cannabis seedlings in the parcel case. Photo: ZOLL Source: nachrichten-heute.net
No arrest was reported and the recipient was not named.
The outcome of the criminal proceedings for Bannbruch is not yet known.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in Presseportal: Customs said the mail-order ban on seedlings still applies after the Cannabis Act took effect.
Police stopped a 23-year-old driver from Haan on the L11 between Nideggen and Brück on 2 November 2026 after reports of reckless driving. A voluntary saliva test was positive for cannabis, so officers had blood taken, seized his licence and opened a criminal case for suspected endangerment of road traffic.
About 200 customs, police and city officers checked 12 bars, shisha bars and shops in eastern Leipzig on 2 November 2026 in an anti-clan operation. Officers logged seven narcotics and cannabis-law violations and found larger quantities of narcotics in a commercial property on Eisenbahnstraße, with no separate cannabis weight published.
Duisburg police checked a 28-year-old on Königstraße in the early hours of 31 October 2026 and seized cash, two phones and a pharmacy bag with medications and hashish. Officers then searched his Alleestraße flat at the prosecutor's request, finding more painkillers and cash, and opened proceedings for suspected drug dealing.
On 20 October 2026 customs investigators searched two flats in Hanover, seizing more than 5 kg of marijuana and about 150 g of hashish alongside cocaine and ketamine. Two suspects aged 59 and 25 were processed and released while the investigation continues.
