Customs stop chocolate smugglers: Over 500 kilos of Dubai chocolate discovered in coach

By Christiane Oelrich

Vienna (Austria) - Smugglers have been caught in Austria with the highly sought-after Dubai chocolate in the trunk. Customs caught criminals twice who were trying to smuggle the goods in duty unpaid from Turkey on the same coach , according to the Austrian Ministry of Finance.

Dubai chocolate is in great demand, even in Germany. But smuggling it in duty unpaid is still not a good idea. (symbolic photo)
Dubai chocolate is in great demand, even in Germany. But smuggling it in duty unpaid is still not a good idea. (symbolic photo)  © Sascha Thelen/dpa/dpa-tmn

In October, undeclared boxes of chocolate were discovered for the first time in the trunk of the bus at a border crossing with Hungary, and again in November. A total of 2540 bars of 200 grams each were involved.

The ministry put the value at 52,000 euros. This corresponds to a good 10 euros per 100 grams. In some places, this chocolate is sold in stores for twice the price.

The smugglers wanted to avoid duties and taxes, said Austria's Finance Minister Gunter Mayr. However, the money is needed to finance roads and schools, for example. As punishment, they had to pay double the import duties - a total of 4000 euros.

Customs discovered the hot goods in a coach from Turkey. (symbolic photo)
Customs discovered the hot goods in a coach from Turkey. (symbolic photo)  © Lino Mirgeler/dpa

Dubai chocolate has become a trend in recent weeks thanks to clever advertising campaigns on social media. It has a filling of pistachio cream and roasted dough threads, called angel hair. Many stores only offered a limited number of bars at the start of sales, so long queues formed outside the store doors.