February 07-2014
German customs officers found 45 kilograms (100 pounds) of heroin woven into Persian carpets that had been flown from Iran to Germany.
The nine carpets, with heroin-packed cords in their weave, were to be shipped onward to Poland, France, Belgium and Africa. The drugs had a street value of several million dollars.
The find led to arrests in the three European destination countries, said customs service spokeswoman Heike Wilsdorf.
The refined heroin was packed inside sheathed cords that were “extremely cleverly and elaborately woven into the nine carpets,” said a customs service statement.
The German daily Bild dubbed the smuggling ploy the “flying carpets.”
The carpets, each containing five kilos of heroin, seemed inordinately heavy to customs officers in Leipzig. So they ordered them X-rayed and found the drugs.
Four of the separately shipped carpets were addressed for onward air transport to Belgium, three to Poland and one each to France and Congo, Wilsdorf told Agence France Presse (AFP).
