news meets the Customs Authority at Pier 2 in Oslo, where the ferry from Copenhagen has just arrived. We are informed that it is normal for between 10 and 30 trailers to arrive by ferry. Three to five of these can be taken out for control. Using X-rays A car from the agency is parked close to a train. It scans the cargo hold of a train with X-rays to get an overview of what is inside. The customs officers look for drugs and other things smuggled into the country. The customs officers are inside a truck and are conducting a search. The customs agency scans the contents of a truck at the harbor in Oslo. The picture is from a random check. Customs carries out a search with a dog. Gurrik says that many vehicles are scanned before they get a serious hit. – It is painstaking work, and far between the big seizures, says Tim Gurrik, head of the Oslofjord area in the Customs Department. Tim Gurrik, head of the Customs Office at the Oslo Fjord, in front of the Danish boat. Photo: Mette Kristensen / news – You get a good picture of what is inside, but it requires a lot of expertise to read these pictures correctly. It depends on what’s inside, says Gurrik. – If it is a uniform load, it is easy, if it is a diverse load, it is much more demanding. Then there are more cavities in the cargo, he adds. The image shows the screen inside the car for the Customs Agency, while they are scanning the contents of the truck. Photo: Mette Kristensen / news Cocaine seizure in container So far this year, a total of 1.8 tonnes of cocaine has been seized on its way into Norway. The largest cocaine seizures have been made among goods that arrive in containers. These have been loaded on board ships or arrived by road. Never before has so much cocaine been seized in Norway. The customs office closely monitors container traffic to Norway. The surveillance recently led to the seizure of 50 kilograms of cocaine in a container on Sjursøya in Oslo. It came from Ecuador via a major European port, and was loaded with fruit. The cocaine was found in the rooms outside the container. Here is the one room with cocaine opened. On the right side by the arrow is the second room where the rest of the cocaine was found. It’s all about finding the right container The head of the Norwegian Customs Service says that they are concentrating extra on vessels coming from South America. He explains how cocaine traffic often takes place. – The substance comes to Europe on large vessels, then it is redistributed in a larger port on the continent – before it goes on to Norway, says Gurrik. The cocaine is either packed in a hidden cavity in the container, or becomes packages among other goods. He says it is a big challenge to choose containers to be checked. He says that they often have little information about the cargo, especially those containing fruit. – But once you have picked out the container and carried out the inspection, then you will find it. But finding the right container is. There is talk of 150,000 containers entering Sjursøya, and we do not have the capacity to control them all. Parts of the 50 kilograms of cocaine found in one compartment of the container.
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Almost two tonnes of cocaine seized in Norway this year – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
