Heroin and antic swords

[Jens Nordlunde]

The Police in Copenhagen found 800 grams of very strong heroin hidden in the blades of 25 antic swords. The swords origin from Pakistan, and the police believe there are more swords hidden.

The text above is from a Danish newspaper on the net. After this it will no doubt be more difficult to send swords to other countries.

What makes me wonder is, if these swords were antic, or only made to look like, and why the heroin was hidden in the blades and not in the hilts?

Anyway what do we collectors do when the police/custom takes a greater and greater interest in the collectibles when they cross a border – maybe even take a sword or a dagger apart to have a look?

The latest is, that the different newspapers show different European middel age swords. If the pictures show the type of swords, and the come from Pakistan - they are copies, not antic, but lets see what follows.

[Berkley]

It is not as if swords had been singled out for the purpose. A quick Google search yields this non-inclusive list:

Quantities of illegal drugs crossing the border have been hidden in baby diapers, fresh fruit, frozen fruit pulp, hollowed-out religious statues and other relics, clothing mannequins, electronic equipment, the hulls of ships, panels and gas tanks of cars, bags of coffee, surfboards, books, furniture, concrete fence posts, ice-packed cases of vegetables, aerosol cans, sneakers, and pillows strapped around someone's waist. Heroin and cocaine have been stuffed into condoms and swallowed by couriers; animals have been surgically cut open and, again, had heroin- or cocaine-filled condoms inserted into their bodies, were sewn shut, and were then transported across the border; drugs have been placed in airtight containers in a liquid—such as olive oil, gasoline, liquor, mouthwash, shampoo, and the water tropical fish swim in—and smuggled into the country. Cocaine has been molded into a bust of Jesus and spray-painted a light-gray color; 15 pounds of cocaine were chemically bonded into two fiberglass dog kennels; half a ton of cocaine was packed into hollow plaster shells shaped and painted to look like yams

. It seems unlikely that swords will become a major target for customs inspections.

[nechesh]

Also keep in mind that they are more likely to scrutinize large lots of swords than the single blade shipped from a dealer or ebay seller.
How do you hide stuff INSIDE a blade anyway? That's a nifty trick.
Anyway, these custom guys do have x-rays and other scanning devices so i don't think they are likely to just start taking apart antique swords and daggers in their search without due cause.

[Mark]

In most cases drugs are detected by dogs, which is why smugglers do stuff like seal it in coffee bags, liquids, etc. Surprisingly, it rarely masks the smell enough to fool a dog.

Anyway, hopefully customs folks won't start ripping appart any sword they find, looking for drugs. IMO it would be pretty dumb to do that, as they'd go crazy doing it while shipments of painted plaster yams sneak through.

[Jens Nordlunde]

The latest news is that the swords are copies, like I guessed. The swords were sent to England and later brought to Denmark, most likely by the owner an Englishman living in Denmark. He and a woman died from taking the heroin, and later his wife told the police about the swords. There seem to have been 30 swords but the police only found 25, so now they are looking for 5 swords – which should represent about 160 grams of almost pure heroin.

My guess is that the blades must have been made like the blade of double katars, where one blade is concealed in the blade of the other. The blade is made hollow in two pieces and later put together.

[Tim Simmons]

It might cause a short lived ripple but there are so many other better products to hide contraband, in larger quantities, lets not forget this is happening everyday some will always get through, international communication would stop if they opened everything. Interesting thread.

[PUFF]

800 g of the crystal take quite ample space (as much as 1 lb ground coffee). Any blade with 1 lb coffee inside must looks very suspicious .

[nechesh]

Originally Posted by PUFF

800 g of the crystal take quite ample space (as much as 1 lb ground coffee). Any blade with 1 lb coffee inside must looks very suspicious .

PUFF, according to the story the 800 grams were distributed between 25 blades so that's only 32 grams per blade. Suspicious, but possible.

[PUFF]

Oops! I did'n notice that they put into 25 blades

[not2sharp]

Originally Posted by PUFF

Oops! I did'n notice that they put into 25 blades

It sounds like an entirely impractical method of shipment.

n2s