In 2024, the customs officers at Vienna Airport recorded a massive increase in access from cannabis. They secured around 295 kilograms of cannabis in 2024 – compared to around 70 kilograms a year before. With a total of more than 6,400 attacks, around 3.3 million euros in cash and 1.6 million cigarettes were also secured.
“Our customs officers make an important contribution to fair competition every day, the protection of domestic workplaces and our security. The impressive figures in 2024 also show that at the Vienna Airport, 6,400 attacks and security were carried out – from drugs to illegally introduced cash. I would like to thank our tax collectors for their tireless use“, emphasized the State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Finance Barbara Eibinger-Miedl.
More than 6,400 attacks at 101,000 controls
A total of around 44,000 travelers and around 57,000 vehicles, packages and post programs in travel at the airport and for mobile controls in Burgenland were checked in 2024. The customs officers reach 6,406 attacks – from product piracy to drugs and cash smuggling to violations of species protection.
Heike Fetka-Blüthner, director of the Austria Customs Office, explains the high hit rate of more than 6 %: “We continuously rely on risk-oriented controls and develop our risk parameters. Ware and fair work of our business location. ”
Cash procedures increase from one million to 3.3 million in the year
A total of 3.3 million euros in cash not registered were secured in 2024. The year before, it was a million euros. Customs team leader Roland Karner: “We managed the biggest cash find last year with a passenger who was on the way to Istanbul and did not want to carry out cash in the amount of around 700,000 euros in hand and check-in luggage. Among the highlights of the species protection intervention in the first half of the year, the discovery of ivory figures from Uganda was also hidden on the body became.”
Number of cigarette and cigar gruffs multiplied
The find of 170,000 cigarettes in eleven plump suitcases in three male passengers from Cairo in October in October is particularly worth mentioning in the second half of the year. Overall, the amount of cigarette attacks has almost tripled – from around 600,000 pieces in 2023 to 1.6 million last year. In addition, the customs at Vienna Airport took up around 15,000 cigars in 2024 – compared to this, there were about 2,400 pieces in 2023.
Product piracy further on the rise
Further attacks concerned, among other things, counterfeits from jewelry, textiles, bags and watches in the amount of 2.5 million, 14 living animals, almost ten tons of animal products as well as 16,200 pieces and 354 kilograms of other medicinal products. In addition, the customs took up more than 73,000 fake products with an original value of almost twelve million euros. The majority concerned mobile phones and accessories (35,000 pieces of around two million euros), clothing (3,900 pieces of almost 1.1 million euros) and shoes (3,100 pieces of 897,000 euros).
In mid -June 2024, the Austrian customs officers secured 4,500 of fake plush toys as part of a focus control at Vienna Airport. Fake toys can be extremely dangerous for children, since inferior materials are often used and the intended safety standards are often not met. This threatens burns, cuts, poisoning or even deaths, for example by suffocating. The fake plush toys were destroyed.
In freight transport, around 1.4 million customs applications in import, export and transit were handled through the East 2024 office. The customs carried out 50,384 checks in which the majority of the product piracy procedures were carried out.
Further special attacks in travel and the mobile controls of the Customs Office Ost:
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14 Kilogramm Cocaine Aus Sao Paulo
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6 living kittens from Istanbul
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A Porsche Cayenne worth 60,335 euros in mobile control
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848 kilograms of meat products for a focus control in Nickelsdorf
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406,920 pieces of cigarettes in a Romanian coach in Nickelsdorf
Record for the number of travelers
The passenger volume increased again in 2024. More than 31.6 million passengers used Vienna Airport last year for their air travel. As early as 2023, a strong increase in 29.5 million travelers could be recorded. At the end of June 2024, Vienna Airport even experienced the strongest day of travel in its history with around 113,000 travelers. In the meantime, the passenger volume is above the pre-corona level.
Customs recommends travelers to https://bit.ly/3HtUqkA to inform about the valid provisions.
Photos: https://flic.kr/s/ahbqjcbymu