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Brits accused in Sweden garlic smuggling racket

Published: 9 Jan 13 08:43 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/45506/20130109/

Sweden has issued an arrest warrant for two Britons suspected of smuggling millions of dollars' worth of garlic into Sweden from Norway.

The two men are believed to be behind a massive garlic smuggling operation whereby huge quantities of the popular seasoning were shipped from China to Norway and then brought over the Swedish border illicitly in order to avoid European Union import duties.

Prosecutors estimate the pair smuggled around €10 million ($13.1 million) worth of garlic into Sweden for distribution throughout the EU.

"We're talking about big money and a profitable operation," prosecutor Thomas Ahlstrand told the local Bohusläningen newspaper.

"It involved many shipments of garlic."

While garlic can be imported to Norway from China duty-free, the EU slaps a 9.6 percent duty on garlic imports.

According to the warrant, the Britons are suspected of using a company set up in Norway to profit from the import duty discrepancy, smuggling more than 100 tonnes of garlic across the Swedish border since 2009.

Prosecutors hope issuing warrants for the pair will result in them being arrested and extradited back to Sweden on charges of aggravated customs violations.

TT/The Local/dl
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10:08 January 9, 2013 by JulieLou40
Why do you always talk about values in dollars on this site? This is not an American "newspaper", is it? So why not, I don't know, talk in the currency of the country we are in, like everyone else??
10:34 January 9, 2013 by EtoileBrilliant
Never mind the profit motive, all the poor Brits were trying to do was to import garlic without green shoots into Sweden.
15:16 January 9, 2013 by RobinHood
Sweden tolerates and enables its many citizen terrorists to roam the world raping, maiming and killing innocent men, women and children. The Danes, the Somalis, the Iraqis,and the Americans have got dozens of them banged up awaiting trial for all sorts of disgusting behavior; usually involving killing multiple civilians with a nail bomb outside a mosque, or an AK47 inside a Danish newspaper office.

But import something into Sweden without paying the right tax, and it's out with the international arrest warrants, and they're down on you like 100 tonnes of garlic.

Would it help if Sweden imagined its citizen terrorists to be garlic smugglers?
15:42 January 9, 2013 by kahunasails
The whole garlic smuggling thing leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Who thinks of this stuff?
15:58 January 9, 2013 by millionmileman
Last year Swedes were smuggling butter in Norway and now it's Brits smuggling Norwegian garlic into Sweden. All we need now is a French chef!
16:18 January 9, 2013 by Svensksmith
Next, they'll combine the two and smuggle garlic butter.
17:02 January 9, 2013 by Lowlin
The rise of the garlic mafia :-)
18:03 January 9, 2013 by JulieLou40
@ #6: Ha ha, love it!
18:24 January 9, 2013 by Eric1
These guys will get more time in prison than for murder or rape. Maybe not as much time has saying a bad word to a muslim but close.
07:14 January 10, 2013 by CPO Sharkey
You all can joke if you want, but I'd sure hate to be sent up the river on a garlic rap. The other inmates will single you out and you have to seperated in the "Clove-er Wing." Shunned even by prison society, you're now doing "favors" for a little garlic bread and the promise of escargot.
15:46 January 11, 2013 by skylarkpilot
I bought some garlic at ICA last night, will there be an international arrest warrant issued for me ? I could have been handling bent garlic.....

Maybe I should go into hiding, leave the fruit and veg section and stay in cheese and meats for a while !
17:12 January 11, 2013 by Cockney Rebel
Can you imagine what else pours over the Norway to Sweden border while all the attention is on the other direction for food and booze smuggling to feed those poor, starving, sober Noggies ?

It took some Brits to probably ruin some other lucrative schemes run for years by locals !

Wait till they find out about the illicit godis trade !
19:32 January 11, 2013 by dukesy
Hej All

It appears that someone in Sweden`s press is taking lessons from `our` press in

UK,at giving this sort of thing press coverage.

These idots smuggle of all things `garlic` from Norway into Sweden,depriving our

wonderfull EU of import revenue,at a time when the EU is trying to screw all of us our of our revenue.....tuff luck!

But seriously,these guys get all this publicity for smuggling garlic......at least garlic dont kill people....unless you count seriously rotten breath as a danger.

What about spending the same time and money,be it $ or Kronor,on people smuggling drugs or other nasties over the borders. Catch them and nobody would mind spending money to stop that filthy trade.

Incidentally,I know the `Dollar` is an international currency, but,I still prefer to see our prices in Uk marked in `£`,or in your case `kronor`. I may be a Brit,but

I do understand the Swedish currency,and the fact that like us Brits...the Swedish nation has not bowed down to EU or German ideas just yet over currency or Sovereignty. Britain should remain in the EU,but as a Sovereign state in our own right,as i would hope Sweden will.

Tack sa mycket...vi sees senare
11:36 January 30, 2013 by JohnVal
According Van Helsing (a source at) the recently MadeUpStatisticsOrganisations.se, this smuggling operation explains why there are fewer vampires in Sweden while simultaneously Chinese vampire populations are rising... ;)

It's clearly a EU conspiracy to hold back the Chinese economy by preventing day shift work in Eastern factories...

Damn you Van Helsing *monocle falls from eye into tea* DAmnnn YOooouuu Sir...
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