Driver arrested over garlic bust

NORDIC customs officials have arrested a truck driver after he tried to illegally import 28 tonnes of Chinese garlic into the European Union.

The driver was intercepted last month as he drove the pungent truckload from Norway, which is outside the EU and where garlic is exempt from customs duties, into Sweden, where garlic is subject to a 9.6 per cent EU-wide duty.

Smuggling of cheaply produced Chinese garlic into the EU is on the rise, with around 1,200 tonnes brought into the 27-nation bloc via Norway since 2009, according to the European Anti-Fraud Office, known as OLAF.

"The interception of the lorry was the result of a carefully prepared initiative coordinated by OLAF," the EU said in a statement.