A 34-year-old Dutch citizen was remanded in custody on suspicion of drug smuggling after being caught trying to bring 225 kilograms of cannabis into Sweden.[1] Customs officers discovered the drugs in the man’s car in Helsingborg at the beginning of July 2007.[1] The narcotics sat in five suitcases simply placed in the back of the hatchback, without any attempt at concealment, which the head of the Malmö customs police called unusual.[1]
The man, who was alone in the car, admitted that he knew he was transporting narcotics, and officers believed he was acting as a courier for an organised operation.[1] The haul was the largest ever found in a private car in Sweden and the second largest of any kind, after 347 kilograms seized in Trelleborg in 1999.[1] About 40 percent of the seizures Swedish Customs made in 2006 had been bound onward to Norway, and there were indications that not all of this load was meant for the Swedish market.[1]
The find came not from a tip-off but from the officers’ experience and intuition.[1] The driver had admitted the smuggling attempt but the investigation was otherwise proceeding slowly; if found guilty he faced up to ten years in prison.[1]
