Crocodiles, eels, sturgeon eggs: Customs officers have seen it all

Customs authorities may have had a remarkably fruitful year in 2017 as regards inspections on tobacco products - confiscating 154 million contraband cigarettes and imposing taxes and fines of 581 million euros - but they also excelled in original catches, which included the confiscation of crocodiles, eels, sturgeon eggs, underwear and cutlery.

According to statistics concerning last year published by the Independent Authority for Public Revenue, customs officials landed a number of unusual commodities during their inspections, including 400 kilos of European eels at the storage facilities of a European company at Koropi, eastern Attica, while the customs office at Athens International Airport (AIA) netted another 160 kilos of the same species.

Customs officers on Rhodes confiscated five caimans, which came from the Netherlands in a wooden container, while the Kipoi...