Cannabis, Cash, Cigarettes: Customs Seizures at Vienna Airport Increased

The customs at Vienna Airport in Schwechat recorded 6,406 seizures last year, significantly more than the 4,146 in 2023. According to a report on Tuesday, 295 kilos of cannabis, 3.3 million euros in undeclared cash, 1.6 million cigarettes, and more than 73,000 counterfeit products worth twelve million euros were discovered and secured. 101,000 inspections were conducted.

Increase in Customs Seizures at Vienna Airport

The range of seizures once again included drug and cash smuggling, product piracy, and violations of species protection. State Secretary Barbara Eibinger-Miedl (ÖVP) highlighted the commitment, expertise, and competence of the 283 customs officers at the East office during a press conference. She described the hit rate of more than six percent as high. Vienna Airport is a hotspot in travel and goods traffic, said Heike Fetka-Blüthner, head of the Austrian Customs Office. The East office conducted 1.4 million customs clearances last year. The 101,000 inspections in 2024 involved 44,000 passengers and 57,000 vehicles, packages, and mail in travel traffic.

Increase in Cannabis, Cash, and Cigarettes

Customs team leader Roland Karner went into detail. According to him, 295 kilos of seized cannabis were 225 kilos more than the previous year. Cash seizures increased from one million to 3.3 million euros year-on-year. Karner noted the discovery of 170,000 cigarettes in eleven fully packed suitcases with three male passengers from Cairo last October as noteworthy. Cigarette seizures nearly tripled from about 600,000 in 2023 to 1.6 million recently. Additionally, 15,000 cigars were taken out of circulation, compared to 2,400 the previous year.

Product piracy continues to be on the rise. In this context, reference was made to counterfeit jewelry, textiles, bags, and watches worth 2.5 million euros that were secured. Almost ten tons of animal food and 16 tons of plant products were also taken out of circulation. Among the 73,000 counterfeit products were mobile phones and accessories (35,000 pieces worth about two million euros), clothing (3,900 pieces worth almost 1.1 million euros), and 3,100 shoes worth 897,000 euros. Reference was also made to 4,500 counterfeit plush toys that were destroyed as part of a special operation.

Over 30 Million Passengers at Vienna Airport

Vienna Airport handled 31.72 million passengers last year. This was more than ever before in the airport's history. 32 million passengers are expected in the current year.

(APA/Red)

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