Criminality - Customs seizes 2023 kilograms of drugs and thousands of cigarettes in 2023
The Customs Investigations Office Dresden initiated 1,380 investigative proceedings against a total of 1,949 suspects last year. The scope of investigations ranged from drug offenses to pharmaceutical, doping, and smuggling of goods, as well as violations of weapons and explosives regulations and animal and plant protection laws. The successful investigations resulted in sentences of a total of 139 years in prison and fines amounting to 155,093 Euro.
In Saxony, most of Thuringia, and a small part of Saxony-Anhalt, investigators secured approximately 1,900 kg of anesthetics, primarily cocaine and marijuana, and 4.7 million Cigarettes. They also seized 2.8 tonnes of water pipe tobacco, nearly 27,000 pyrotechnic items, approximately 240,000 tablets of prohibited pharmaceutical and doping substances, over 20,700 counterfeit branded articles, and 96 products derived from or containing protected animal and plant species. In addition, they uncovered tax evasion schemes totaling over 5.15 million Euro.
Focus on Drug Crime
Drug seizures in postal shipments increased, with most of them intended for recipients in other European countries or on other continents rather than Germany. Investigative priorities included cases of smuggling crystal methamphetamine and marijuana in Arnstadt and Ilmenau, Thuringia, as well as Leipzig and Dresden, Saxony. The origin of crystal methamphetamine seized for Saxony and Thuringia was most often in the Benelux countries.
A total of 470 items were secured as weapons, including pepper spray devices, rings, knives, or parts for sharp-shooting weapons, as well as thousands of rounds of ammunition, including for military weapons. The Customs Office also seized 50 liters of shark liver oil, 14 items made of ivory, 27 items made of snake skin, and a tooth from a potwal.
- The Customs Investigations Office in Thuringia, similar to its counterpart in Dresden, Saxony, handled a significant number of investigative proceedings last year.
- The Customs Office in Saxony-Anhalt also played a role in the seizure of prohibited substances, including 4.7 million smuggled cigarettes.
- The focus on drug crime in the region led to the discovery of large quantities of drugs in postal shipments, with destinations often outside of Germany.
- Criminality in these German states wasn't limited to drugs, with investigations also revealing cases of smuggling weapons and protected animal and plant species.
- The Customs Office in these regions, including Dresden and areas in Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, played a crucial role in combating these forms of illegal activities.
