Editor’s Note
**Editor’s Note:** This article details a customs inspection at Weeze Airport, where a mother and daughter arriving from Morocco were stopped for a check. The incident highlights routine enforcement procedures for travelers entering from non-EU countries.
On May 11, 2026, customs officers from the Travel Traffic Control Unit of the Duisburg Main Customs Office at Weeze Airport inspected two women (aged 31 and 52) arriving from Morocco. The travelers, a mother and daughter, passed through the green exit for duty-free goods when a trainee, working as part of her training at the Duisburg Main Customs Office at Weeze Airport, stopped them for a customs check upon their entry from a non-EU country.
During the X-ray scanning of their luggage, several jewelry boxes were detected. The customs officers then decided to have the travelers open their bags for a more thorough inspection. Inside the boxes, purchase receipts for various gold jewelry items were found. It turned out that the two travelers were wearing the gold jewelry—purchased in Morocco in the form of bracelets and rings—on their bodies, with a total value of approximately 20,000 euros.
With a value of around 20,000 euros, the gold jewelry far exceeded the duty-free allowance of 430 euros per person for air travelers, and the goods should have been declared at the customs office. Because they used the green exit for duty-free goods, both travelers are now suspected of attempted tax evasion. As a result, tax penalty proceedings were initiated on the spot in both cases, and the gold jewelry was seized as evidence. The prevented tax loss amounts to over 4,000 euros.
If travel souvenirs exceed the duty-free allowances, import duties must be paid. These items must be declared orally at the customs office upon entry from a non-EU member state (e.g., by using the red exit at the airport). The applicable import duties will be calculated there, depending on the type and value of the goods. Generally, the assessed duties must be paid on the spot.
For further information on travel allowances and customs regulations, visit www.zoll.de.
