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Man Sentenced for Smuggling 80 Pounds of Speed Disguised as COVID Vaccine

A Polish man covered his van in magnetic stickers with the BioNTech logo to evade authorities.
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Image: Alex Kraus/Bloomberg via Getty Images

A Norwegian court sentenced a man to prison after he allegedly attempted to smuggle 88 pounds of amphetamine disguised as a shipment from biotechnology company BioNTech. 

According to Norwegian national broadcaster NRK, customs officials initially intercepted the 50-year-old Polish man in January shortly after he arrived from Denmark via a ferry. His van was covered in magnetic stickers with the BioNTech logo—one of two developers of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine—and there was even a folder with the logo sitting on the dashboard. 

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During a search of his van, officials found the 88 pounds of amphetamine inside a hidden compartment in the vehicle’s roof. The seizure represents close to 10 percent of Norway’s annual seizures of the drug, according to a state prosecutor quoted by the Norwegian press. Amphetamine, colloquially known as speed, remains a popular stimulant in the north of Europe. 

On August 5 the Vestfold District Court sentenced the man, who has remained unnamed in the Norwegian press, to 10 and a half years in prison. In the court’s verdict, obtained by Motherboard, the court writes that the man was a truck driver in Germany and offered €20,000 euros (~$23,500 dollars) to smuggle the amphetamine. 

“He came into contact with people who wanted him to smuggle drugs to Norway,” the verdict reads. “At first he refused, but then the pandemic came and there were fewer assignments and the wages were low. He rented a van in Germany and drove to Amsterdam, where he was handed the drugs.” 

“He was afraid of these people and what they could do to his family,” it continues. “They told him they knew where his family in Germany lives.” 

Sverre Sjøvold, the man’s lawyer, told NRK that his client thought he was smuggling hash, not speed, which carries a much heavier sentence. 

“He was certain that he was smuggling hashish, and had in mind a sentence of three to four years in prison,” Sjøvold said. “When he heard 10 years and six months, it was clear he was shocked.” 

In an email to Motherboard, Sjøvold’s office wrote they were “aware that he was wrongly convicted” and that they will appeal the decision. 

But the court didn’t seem to buy his defense, instead pointing to fingerprint and DNA evidence found on the vacuum sealed bags containing the amphetamine. They also found his explanation that one of the bags fell from the hidden compartment and hit his head during the journey implausible.

“The court is certain that he either knew or thought it more than 50 percent likely that he was smuggling amphetamine,” the court wrote.  

The Norwegian Customs Office did not immediately respond to Motherboard's request for comment.