Border guards made a record number of seizures of counterfeit goods in 2010, the Federal Customs Administration announced on Tuesday.
This content was published on
1 minute
swissinfo.ch
They also intercepted three times more smuggled food items than in 2009.
Leather articles and jewelry accounted for more than half the 2,741seizures of fakes. Other popular items were clothes and accessories such as scarves, hats and sunglasses.
A total of about 826 tonnes of smuggled food items were discovered. Fruit and vegetables accounted for 585 tonnes, edible oils for 78 tonnes and meat for 57 tonnes. Other illegal items were fake or non-approved medicines and exotic animals.
As for drugs, about 77.8 kilogrammes of hashish and 79kg of marijuana were seized at the border, against 48.7 and 46 respectively in 2009. Heroin seizures were also up from 29.6kg to 31.5, but the amount of cocaine fell from 280.2 to 180.5.
Border guard chief Jürg Noth said 80 wanted people and 994 stolen objects had been identified at the border thanks to the Schengen Information System under which European countries exchange information about crimes.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Travellers told not to import plants
This content was published on
Some plants bring with them the danger of disease and pests or are invasive, squeezing out local greenery. Others are simply forbidden because they are endangered species. It’s a problem which is well known to Markus Bünter, head of the Plant Protection Inspectorate of the Agroscope research institute, which is attached to the Federal Agriculture…
This content was published on
Switzerland, which signed the Schengen agreement, helps finance vehicles and equipment for Poland’s mobile border police. Although not a member of the European Union, Switzerland contributes to reducing the gap between old and new EU states. Southeast of Poland, in neighbouring Ukraine, wages are low and products are cheap. As a result trafficking cigarettes, drugs,…
This content was published on
Products such as bogus Viagra remain the most popular, but there has also been a peak in the orders of slimming products, some of which are dangerous. The Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products (Swissmedic) said on Wednesday that in the first six months of the year it received reports of 992 suspicious, potentially illegal imports…
This content was published on
The claims were made as 130 countries resumed talks in Geneva this week on expanding an international anti-smoking treaty to clamp down on the trade in black market cigarettes. According to a report published this week by the International Union against Tobacco and Lung Disease, one in nine cigarettes – or 657 billion cigarettes a…
This content was published on
The Swiss village of Samnau has been a toll free enclave for more than a century. Today it’s connected to Austria via a popular skiing area and makes good business with luxury goods of all kinds. Since only very few Austrians declare their purchases at the customs office, the officers started hunting the smugglers on…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.