In the fight against drug smuggling, customs confiscated almost 14.5 tons of cocaine in Germany last year. As can be seen from the annual balance presented in Hamburg on Tuesday, that is a good 7 tons less than in 2021, but 5 tons more than in 2020. The customs officers also secured almost 8,400 kilos of marijuana, around 1,000 kilos more than in the previous year and around 5,000 Kilos more than in 2020. Customs also discovered 142 million smuggled cigarettes. In the previous year there were 117 million pieces, in 2021 the customs officers had confiscated 105 million contraband cigarettes.
Officials also seized 52 weapons of war, also more than in previous years. The volume of illegal ammunition was also striking. Customs confiscated nearly 579,000 shots. In the previous year there were only 137,000, in 2020 only 32,000. Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) praised the officials under his authority when presenting the annual balance sheet: “48,000 customs officers work for our society every day and do an excellent job.” Last year, 391 million consignments worth 1.4 trillion euros were dispatched. According to customs, 8.6 million counterfeit goods were intercepted, 6.8 million of them in Hamburg alone. Customs initiated more than 97,000 investigations against 99,700 suspects.