Editor’s Note
A flight attendant was fined €11,800 for smuggling after concealing Rolex watches and Cartier jewelry worth over €42,000 under her uniform at Bergamo’s Orio al Serio Airport. The valuables were seized, highlighting ongoing vigilance against customs evasion.
A 38-year-old flight attendant was fined €11,800 for smuggling after failing to declare customs duties at Orio al Serio Airport in Bergamo on February 20. The woman, who had just landed on a flight from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, had hidden Rolex watches and Cartier jewelry worth over €42,000 under her flight uniform. She evaded over €9,000 in customs duties. The valuables were subsequently seized administratively. Staff from the Italian Customs and Monopolies Agency and military personnel from the Orio al Serio Financial Guard Company stopped the 38-year-old shortly after she crossed the currency line in the international arrivals hall of ‘Il Caravaggio’ airport. The flight attendant, of Ukrainian origin and with a prior record for smuggling, was noticed moving in a suspicious manner. She was then subjected to an inspection, and inside her hand luggage, two boxes bearing the Rolex brand and two other Cartier packages, all empty, were found.
Subsequent checks revealed that these four valuables had a total value of €42,085, meaning the 38-year-old had evaded customs duties of over €9,000. The flight attendant was charged with smuggling for failure to declare, but as the amount was below the threshold for criminal relevance, she was only issued an administrative penalty and required to pay the taxes due. The total amount was therefore approximately €11,800.
