2 Britons wanted for smuggling garlic
2013-01-09 21:51
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Stockholm - Swedish prosecutors have issued international
arrest warrants for two Britons suspected of masterminding a smuggling ring
involving over a ton of Chinese garlic.
The men first shipped the garlic to Norway by boat, where
it entered the country duty-free since it was considered to be in transit,
prosecutor Thomas Ahlstrand said Wednesday.
They then drove the approximately 1.2 tons of garlic
across the expansive Norwegian-Swedish border, avoiding customs checks and thus
Swedish import duties.
Ahlstrand said the men avoided some €10m in Swedish taxes
through the scheme.
A lengthy police investigation led to the identification
of the two British allegedly behind the Swedish operation, which took place in
2009-2010.
It was not the first time smugglers have shown a preference
for garlic from China, which accounts for nearly 80% of world output and is
often significantly cheaper than local varieties.
In 2010, Polish authorities seized six containers with
144 tons of Chinese garlic that had been smuggled into the country via the
Netherlands.
It was not immediately clear whether the Polish smuggling
was linked to the Swedish case.
- AP
