Customs announce competition for ideas on disposal of huge load of contraband alcohol

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Finnish customs authorities at the Vaalimaa frontier station on the Russian are at a loss as to how they should dispose of a massive consignment of 23,000 litres of nearly pure alcohol that they confiscated last year.
      The head of the customs post, Petri Kukkonen, announced a competition on a local radio station for ideas on how to deal with the 96% alcohol packed in plastic bottles. It was stressed that the winners would not be getting any of the contraband as a prize.
      Small amounts of smuggled spirit have generally been poured down the drain, for instance. However, the local sewage treatment plant can deal with no more than 200 litres of alcohol at a time without interference in the biological treatment process.
     
The container, of Vietnamese origin, was stopped in Kotka in January last year, and the three people involved in the smuggling received sentences of more than a year in prison.
      The goods, and the vehicle used in the operation, were confiscated by the state.
      The load was supposed to have contained soy sauce. Four boxes of the substance were at the far end of the container as decoys for the illegal alcohol packed behind them.
     
"We have tried to offer the alcohol for sale, but no users have been found", says Tuomas Valjus the head of investigations at the Vaalimaa customs post.
      EU rules and taxation issues make it difficult to sell smuggled goods. Therefore, smuggled cigarettes are incinerated nowadays, whereas they used to be sold at a customs auction.
      In the first few days, Kukkonen received a few suggestions, including using the liquid as a substitute for salt on icy roads.
      "We just need to make sure that it is denatured, so that nobody drinks it. Now that it has been taken into the possession of the customs authorities, we have product liability, which means that it cannot be used for just any purpose."
     
"I will accept good proposals, but the state must not incur expenses. Even silly proposals are worth exploring", Kukkonen says, laughing at his own contest.
      If no other solution is found, the liquid will have to be painstakingly drained, one bottle at a time, so as not to upset the sewage treatment process.
     
Smuggling of alcohol at the Vaalimaa crossing fell last year to less than half of the previous year's level because of cuts in Finland's alcohol tax and the EU membership of the Baltic States. However, cigarettes remain a popular item for smugglers.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Hundreds of Finns still waiting for their confiscated alcohol (27.1.2005)

Helsingin Sanomat