Customs officers nab high-value goods

Customs agents at Zurich airport said diamonds, deluxe pens and antiquities were among the notable but illegal goods imported during the first six months of the year.

In a report published on Monday, agents said about 130 officers check more than 1,000 tons of cargo and 20,000 people coming into Switzerland every day. The six-month report shows travellers trying to sneak in goods with a combined worth well over SFr1 million ($962,600).

One traveller from Rangoon, Myanmar, approached the “red zone” of the customs area seeking to declare low-value objects. A closer inspection revealed the items were Burmese cultural goods worth SFr60,000. Police then searched the traveller’s home and confiscated another SFr120,000 worth in undeclared antiques.

Another catch: a courier arrived with silk scarves and an invoice saying they were worth SFr1,011. Officers discovered the scarves were actually worth SFr56,801.

A passenger from London tried to walk discreetly through the “nothing to declare” green zone with diamonds and pearls worth SFr233,000. Another couple from Frankfurt tried to pass through the zone without declaring three pen cases worth SFr50,000.

Several of the cases have resulted in criminal proceedings.

Zurich airport is Switzerland’s busiest, with 10.5 million passengers passing through it in the first six months of 2010.

swissinfo.ch and agencies