Customs stop on the A6: kittens and cigarettes discovered in the Romanian van!

Customs stop on the A6: kittens and cigarettes discovered in the Romanian van!

On the night of Friday to Saturday, the Heilbronn main customs office made a remarkable discovery during a traffic check on the A6 motorway in Untereisesheim, in the Heilbronn district. When checking a Romanian van that was stopped at the Untereisesheim junction, the officers not only found a large number of pieces of luggage, but also two small kittens hiding in the dark hold. Surprisingly, the kittens were neither chipped nor tattooed, and there was no vaccination or pet ID card.

The kittens were confiscated and are now in a three-month quarantine while they are evaluated by a veterinarian. It became known that the alleged owners of the animals do not want to take care of their return. That's why the kittens are hoping for a new home after they leave government care behind them. The customs officers reported that the driver of the transporter, which was occupied by a total of eight people, was taking the animals with him in order to earn money.

Cigarette smuggling

But that wasn't the only unusual surprise the inspection revealed. An additional 1,600 untaxed cigarettes were found in the vehicle. The driver confessed that he planned to sell the cigarettes for profit in France. This led to criminal tax proceedings being initiated against him on suspicion of tax evasion. The seized cigarettes will be subject to a tobacco tax of around 300 euros.

The extensive controls on the A6 illustrate the ongoing work of customs to counteract illegal activities, particularly in the area of ​​animal and cigarette smuggling. With their actions, the officials not only saved the kittens, but also reinforced the laws protecting the tax revenues of the Federal Republic of Germany. SWR and Agree have already reported in detail about this case.