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Cowboy hat smuggler jailed at Norway border

Published: 10 May 12 10:22 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/40746/20120510/

A smuggler travelling across Sweden's western border recently baffled customs officials who found over 500 cowboy hats stashed in the back of his car along with a large quantity of booze and cigarettes.

“This is our largest seizure of cowboy hats,” said Morten Nystuen of the Kongsvinger customs to the Glåm Dalen newspaper.

“We’ve had to confiscate clothes before, but never cowboy hats,” he told the paper.

The driver was reportedly a Polish man who was travelling across Sweden’s (wild) western border from Arviken towards Norway’s capital Oslo on Tuesday night.

When officials searched his car, they uncovered some 12,400 cigarettes, 20 kilogrammes of tobacco, 144 litres of beer and 32 litres of wine.

And crammed in the back of the vehicle were 540 cowboy hats.

The booty had a street value of 121,000 Norwegian kroner ($20,742).

“The large sums witheld in this case certainly merit a custodial sentence,” said Rune Bekkemoen of the local police to the paper.

The Polish outlaw was handed over to police, and spent the night in gaol. He currently remains in police custody.

It is alleged that the man has friends in Oslo who run a shop, and the bounty was intended for them.

It remains unclear as to whether Norway is now suffering a cowboy-hat shortage.

Oliver Gee
Follow Oliver on Twitter here

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11:55 May 10, 2012 by axiom
gaol - a word so very rarely seen in modern English
00:23 May 11, 2012 by Da Goat
He should say he was heading for his family Hoe-down festival and the hats and stuff was for his own use! "Myse family es hard on dere hats boss!" perhaps he should have had some country music CD's as well!

At least the prison inmates will be well stocked with sun protection for a while! LOL
04:03 May 11, 2012 by Harry®
Yep to escape arrest and avoid press reports one has to wear a dirty baby napkin on their head don't wash and say Allah Akabar a lot? Not look Polish
04:18 May 11, 2012 by Grokh
plan = get them drunk then sell stupid hats lol
16:02 May 11, 2012 by tadchem
I foresee there will be 540 disappointed Norwegian 'cowboys'.
10:31 May 12, 2012 by dcbanx
Why is it illegal to smuggle cowboy hats into Norway? Ciggies and booze I can ubderstand, but cowboy hats!
17:33 May 20, 2012 by sigfus45
@ axiom - From Middle English gayole, gaylle, gaille, gayle, gaile, via Old French gaiole, gayolle, gaole, from Medieval Latin gabiola, for *caveola, a diminutive of Latin cavea ("cavity, coop, cage"). In common use in the British Comonwealth.. a less formal usage than Her Majestys Prison. The variant spelling of "jail" is used in the United States, Australia and N.Z.
21:36 May 28, 2012 by gogigboy
'It remains unclear as to whether Norway is now suffering a cowboy-hat shortage' Fantastic line, had me laughing.
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