German customs officers announced they uncovered a sizable ketamine shipment hidden inside ornamental garden gnomes at Cologne/Bonn Airport.
About 25 kilograms of the anesthetic were concealed within five bushy-bearded gnomes painted gold. The items arrived in four parcels sent roughly a month earlier and were addressed to destinations in Canada and Australia. X-ray checks revealed irregularities in the decorations, and inspectors found alterations to the gnomes’ feet that led them to the concealed drug, a spokesperson for the Cologne customs office, Jens Ahland, said. The seizure’s estimated street value is about €1 million.
In a separate incident last week, officers stopped a Dutch taxi on the A3 motorway near Frankfurt and conducted checks at a service area near Siegburg. Both the driver and a 36-year-old passenger were examined. The British passenger gave conflicting accounts and attempted to flee, but was detained after a short chase. Searches of his luggage uncovered 30 vacuum-sealed bags of white crystalline powder wrapped in gift paper and hidden among clothing.
Combined, the ketamine seized in the two operations has an estimated street value of roughly €2.3 million.
Edited by Dmytro Hubenko