Smuggling Customs officers stop 69-year-old with antique tea bowls
In a press release, the main customs office in Singen writes of an "expensive tea ceremony": customs officers in Blumberg (Germany) discovered smuggled bowls and a teapot worth the equivalent of over 66,000 francs - almost 13,000 francs in import duties are due.
03.01.2025, 10:59
SDA
A 69-year-old man had bought the Chinese antiques in Switzerland, as the main customs office in Singen announced on Friday. The man had packed them in bubble wrap in the trunk of a BMW registered in Belgium at the end of December and had not declared them to customs when entering Germany.
The customs office initiated criminal tax proceedings against the driver. After the 69-year-old handed over the expected import duties of almost 13,500 euros as security in Buchberg, he was allowed to continue his journey, according to the statement.
The antiques discovered in the trunk, worth almost 71,000 euros, included 15 delicately painted bowls and a teapot. Some of them are over 100 years old, according to the statement.
