In a recent bust at the Austrian customs office, a sharp-eyed customs officer and their trusty sniffer dog Rambo helped intercept 42,200 smuggled cigarettes valued at around €12,125. The discovery took place at the end of October during a routine vehicle inspection on the A4 highway near Bruck an der Leitha, heading toward Vienna.
The driver, a Bulgarian national, and his mother initially claimed that they were carrying only eight cartons of cigarettes in the vehicle. However, Rambo, the trained customs dog, had a different idea. The clever dog sniffed out 211 cartons of cigarettes hidden in a secret compartment in the vehicle’s floor.
Austrian Finance Minister Magnus Brunner praised the vigilance of the customs officers, saying, “I thank our customs officers for their sharp attention. Tax evasion is no minor offense and will continue to be strictly dealt with. This ensures fairness in our domestic economy.”
The driver eventually admitted to smuggling the cigarettes, stating he had purchased them for €6,000 in Bulgaria with plans to sell them to friends in Italy. Since the cigarettes were marked with Bulgarian labels, they were subject to Austrian tobacco tax upon being transported into the country. The unpaid taxes on the seized cigarettes amounted to approximately €7,500.
