Customs balance 2024: Bremerhaven remains hotspot for cocaine and counterfeits!

Customs balance 2024: Bremerhaven remains hotspot for cocaine and counterfeits!

The main customs office Bremen recently published its balance sheet for 2024 and again provides revealing insights into the customs processes at the important port of Bremerhaven. As Buten shows the statistics that over 4 million containers are handled in Bremerhaven annually. Despite considerable efforts to combat the drug smuggling, the amount of secured cocaine has decreased significantly compared to the previous year.

In 2024, over 400 kilos of cocaine were confiscated, which represents a drastic decline compared to 1.8 tons in 2023. The discovery of more than 275 kilos of cocaine was particularly striking in a lake container arriving from Brazil in January 2024. However, this trend reversal is not considered an all -clear, because Bremerhaven remains a central gate for the noise lump. The head of the main customs office Bremen, Nicole Tödter, emphasizes that both qualitative and quantitative control methods are used to efficiently combat the smuggling.

detective work in the port of Hamburg

Customs are strongly based on risk analyzes to filter potential smugglers. This not only includes drugs, but also fake products. In 2024, almost 150,000 fake were ensured, a dramatic increase compared to the previous year. The counterfeits have a value of over 1.3 million euros, in particular personal care. Customs have proven a good hand during these controls and shows that combating product piracy and economic crime continues to be a priority.

The funds generated by the work of the main customs office are also not to be neglected. In the last annual balance sheet there was a decline in tax revenue to just under 3.8 billion euros, which corresponds to a minus of 700 million euros. The main reason for this is the falling import taxes and import sales tax that have a direct impact on the income situation. Despite these challenges, the main customs office Bremen remains an important contribution to the nationwide income, such as Presseportal

illegal work in focus

As part of the exams to combat undeclared work, damage of 19 million euros was determined, which means an increase of around 2 million euros compared to the previous year. Over 3,100 criminal proceedings were initiated, while the number of fine procedures has reached a new maximum value with over 2,000. In this context, punishments of almost 650,000 euros were expressed. The focus of the checks was on the building sector, restaurants and transport and logistics, where undeclared work occurs.

The balance is rounded off by close cooperation with adjacent main customs offices and partner authorities who jointly encounter the challenges of goods traffic. The constant support and commitment of the employees of the main customs office Bremen was of crucial importance in this process. In view of the constant developments in the port, it is emphasized how important the active combating of drug, undeclared work and counterfeiting for the region is important. Further information on career opportunities at customs can be found on the websites Never Lower Saxony.