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Every day thousands of packages pass through the control room of Norway’s main airport at Gardermoen.
A special smell from a larger package last week made customs suspicious.
– What I reacted to first, was that it smelled a lot of chlorine, says the customs inspector of the Customs, Nina Fossum, to TV 2.
5000 kronor per pair of pants
In the seizure, customs officials found 495 pants marked with the Italian luxury brand Dsquared2. The usual price for authentic pants is around 5,000 crowns.
The customs authorities were suspicious when they saw that the shipment came from the United Arab Emirates. The Dsquared brand is produced in Italy.
– Based on what we see now, we assume they are not real pants, says Fossum.
ACCESSORIES: Customs inspector Nina Fossum goes through the seizure of 495 jeans Photo: Simen Askjer / TV 2
The pirate industry is now the largest criminal activity in the world, with a value of NOK 5,791.5 billion.
The huge profits from the sale of counterfeit products have repeatedly helped finance terrorist attacks.
The money comes from buyers around the world, also from Norway.
– There are many here who could have been misled, says customs inspector Fossum.
COUNTERFEIT LUXURY PANTS: Øystein Børmer holds up one of the Dsquared2 fake pants that was going to a store in Oslo. Photo: Finn Erik Robstad / TV 2
A lot of money to win
Customs Director Øystein Børmer believes the seizure attests to a resale.
Do you have suggestions on this topic? Tip our journalists here
– There are significant quantities and it is for a more organized resale, it is not individuals who import fake pants, says the customs director Øystein Børmer to TV 2.
According to Børmer, the pants importer is a store in Oslo.
– If you assume that real pants cost 5000 per pants, then we have values of 2.4 million crowns in real goods. There is a lot of money to be made from this, he says.
– What do you want to say to those who think, “this is so dangerous?”
– I understand that it is easy to think like that, but it is all that is behind this product that none of us wants to establish itself, neither in Norway nor in other countries. Whether it is now the financing of terrorism or exploitation of child labor, says Børmer, continuing:
– There are so many facets to this that you don’t think about, when you think you are making a good purchase on the street or in a store in Oslo.
In a series of future cases, TV 2 will shed light on the counterfeiting industry and the consequences it leads to. Tell our journalists about it here.
