Cowboy hat smuggler caught at Norwegian border

A smuggler travelling across Sweden's western border recently baffled customs officials who found over 500 cowboy hats stashed in the back of his car along with a large quantity of booze and cigarettes. “This is our largest seizure of cowboy hats,” said Morten Nystuen of the Kongsvinger customs.

“We’ve had to confiscate clothes before, but never cowboy hats,” he said. The driver was reportedly a Polish man who was travelling across Sweden’s (wild) western border from Arviken towards Norway’s capital Oslo on Tuesday night. When officials searched his car, they uncovered some 12,400 cigarettes, 20 kilogrammes of tobacco, 144 litres of beer and 32 litres of wine.



And crammed in the back of the vehicle were 540 cowboy hats. The booty had a street value of 121,000 Norwegian kroner ($20,742). “The large sums witheld in this case certainly merit a custodial sentence,” said Rune Bekkemoen of the local police.

The Polish outlaw was handed over to police, and spent the night in gaol. He currently remains in police custody. It is alleged that the man has friends in Oslo who run a shop, and the bounty was intended for them. It remains unclear as to whether Norway is now suffering a cowboy-hat shortage.