The customs agency recently seized a total of 900 liters of fake vodka.
The seizure was made in the Larvik area when customs officials took out an Eastern European registered car for inspection.
55 cardboard boxes were found at the very bottom of the cargo hold, behind other goods. The boxes contained a total of 300 three-litre cartons of vodka.
SEIZED: Here you see the boxes containing cartons of fake vodka.
Photo: Norwegian Customs
– The spirits were quickly verified by the producers as fake. It is not possible for people to look for specific characteristics on the bottles or cartons to detect fake liquor, as the characteristics change all the time, says customs director Øystein Børmer.
Frode Kulseth, first customs inspector, shows the seizure.
– Gambling with life and health
– Anyone who buys liquor outside of legal outlets can run the risk that the liquor is fake.
Fake alcohol may contain methanol, which is highly toxic even in small doses.
WARNS THE RUSSIAN: The customs agency warns the Russians this year after the seizure of 900 liters of fake vodka.
Photo: Even Bjøringsøy Johnsen / NRK
He says that if you drink something you don’t know what it contains or under what conditions it was produced, you are gambling with your own life and health.
– If you’re lucky, the only consequence is that you’ve bought fake goods, i.e. low-quality alcohol, which was the case in this case, he warns.
Warn the Russians
In connection with the seizure, the Norwegian Customs Authority issues a warning to this year’s rush.
– Now the holiday season is just around the corner, and we know that a lot of alcohol is consumed among young people.
IMPOSSIBLE: It is impossible for ordinary people to see that this is false.
Photo: Norwegian Customs
He says they know that many people buy alcohol from illegal outlets because it is cheap.
– Saving a few kroner is in no way worth risking your own life and health for, says Børmer.
The police think it’s really scary
Tor Ragnar Steffensen is section leader for the preventive unit in the police in Telemark and works closely with young people.
He thinks it’s really scary to put something in yourself that you don’t know what it is.
– We have experience with things people have died from, so I would be very skeptical and cautious about this, says Steffensen and adds:
– Those who operate in this way are not that serious.
THE RUSSIAN ENVIRONMENT: Steffensen believes he has good contacts in the Russian environment and would know it if the Russians got hold of something like this.
Photo: john-andre samuelsen / john-andre samuelsen
He has not received any signals that the Russians have obtained anything like that.
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Published
24.04.2024, at 14.32
Updated
24.04.2024, at 16.06
Tags: Customs warns Russia seizure liters fake vodka NRK Vestfold Telemark Local news radio
