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Boy brings 700 banned bangers over border
Published: 10 Dec 12 16:26 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/national/20121210-46683.html
Police caught a 16-year-old Berlin boy trying to bypass Germany's strict fireworks laws by smuggling 4.3 kilograms of illegal bangers over the Polish border. The teen could face a fine, or even prison, police said on Monday.
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The schoolboy had stashed over 700 bangers in his bag, which he had bought in a supermarket in the adjoining Polish city of Slubice - just over the border where the German restrictions on buying fireworks do not apply.
The law states that members of the public can only buy fireworks for three days each year between 29th and 31st December. This year, one of those days is a Sunday so sales will begin on the 28th.
"Quite often we find young people, teenagers or even adults carrying fireworks over the border at this time of year, this close to New Years Eve," Törsten Peters, spokesman from the federal police told The Local.
He added that 4.3 kilograms of explosives was quite a large amount for a 16-year-old foot passenger to be taking across the border, although people often attempted to smuggle larger supplies of fireworks hidden in vehicles.
Possession of bangers and fireworks - traditionally set off by revellers on New Years Eve - is illegal in Germany unless they carry the seal of approval from Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, said Peters.
Polish-bought explosives are often not checked and can be unsafe, resulting in countless accidents every year.
"The explosive devices sold in Poland often come from China, for example, and you never know how much explosive has been put in them," said Peters.
DPAThe Local/jlb
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Your comments about this article:
I'm not complaining... It's actually quite cool. But I must admit I was shocked at the onslaught of explosives going off which were much more powerful and pervasive than anything (available to the general public) we have in the US. I remember thinking during my first Berlin Silvester, "Mix a couple of million drunken Germans with high explosives... What could go wrong there?"
"Strict fireworks laws"?... I don't think so.
By the way, I'm now living a couple of years in Xi'an, China. The fireworks here are non-stop for days at a time during Lunar New Year, making the Berliners look like amateurs... But having said that, the fireworks freely available in Berlin far exceed (in terms of power) anything we can get our hands on in the USA.