The last three years have seen a seven-fold increase in the number of illegal weapons seized by the Danish Customs Agency (Toldstyrelsen).

The agency has clamped down on the area, an important measure according to tax minister Morten Bødskov.

“Recent years have seen customs officers at the border and the airport register a consistent increase in illegal weapons. That is evidence of a big problem which we must come down hard on,” Bødskov said.

In 2015, the customs agency confiscated around 1,400 illegal weapons, a figure that increased to 12,000 in 2018.

The trend appears to be continuing this year, with 9,400 illegal weapons seized in the first nine months.

In addition to increasing the number of customs officers, better equipment for scanning parcels has contributed to the results.

The confiscated weapons include knives, throwing stars, pepper sprays, brass knuckles and switchblades.

Other weapons made to resemble everyday objects like cards that can fold out into knives or tasers that look like torches have also been detected.

When packages containing illegal weapons are detected, they are reported to police who contact the package’s recipient on suspicion of breaking Danish weapons laws.

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