Suspected khat smuggler crashes after car chase
A man believed to be carrying 200 kilogrammes of the amphetamine-like substance khat in his car crashed into a guardrail after trying to flee Swedish customs officials at the Öresund bridge on Friday morning.
The man approached a customs checkpoint at 4.50am on Friday morning, but when the officials tried to check his car, he instead stepped on the gas and sped off.
Customs officers alerted police, who then gave chase after the man.
After a few kilometres, however, the man crashed at high speed into a railing on the wrong side of a roundabout.
“For some reason he did not stop. The person in question is in hospital and has not yet been interviewed," customs officer Bo Fredriksson told news agency TT.
Upon inspecting the man's car after the accident, police discovered it to contain copious amounts of the drug khat.
“We have established that the type of drug discovered is khat, but we cannot say exactly how much was in the car,” said the Skåne police spokesperson Helena Ralmark told the Aftonbladet newspaper.
Customs officials estimate the bags found in the man's car weigh at least 200 kilogrammes, however, which is the minimum amount required to be charged with serious drugs offences.
The driver, in his 20s, was also reportedly chewing on the drug while driving.
The man is now suspected of reckless driving, driving under the influence of drugs and possibly even drug trafficking.
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The man approached a customs checkpoint at 4.50am on Friday morning, but when the officials tried to check his car, he instead stepped on the gas and sped off.
Customs officers alerted police, who then gave chase after the man.
After a few kilometres, however, the man crashed at high speed into a railing on the wrong side of a roundabout.
“For some reason he did not stop. The person in question is in hospital and has not yet been interviewed," customs officer Bo Fredriksson told news agency TT.
Upon inspecting the man's car after the accident, police discovered it to contain copious amounts of the drug khat.
“We have established that the type of drug discovered is khat, but we cannot say exactly how much was in the car,” said the Skåne police spokesperson Helena Ralmark told the Aftonbladet newspaper.
Customs officials estimate the bags found in the man's car weigh at least 200 kilogrammes, however, which is the minimum amount required to be charged with serious drugs offences.
The driver, in his 20s, was also reportedly chewing on the drug while driving.
The man is now suspected of reckless driving, driving under the influence of drugs and possibly even drug trafficking.
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