[meteorite-list] Polish Customs Seize Huge Haul of Meteorites Smuggled out of Russia

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri Sep 9 11:12:45 2005
Message-ID: <200509091511.j89FBWG12770_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/09/09/meteor.shtml

Polish Customs Seize Huge Haul of Meteorites Smuggled out of Russia
MosNews
September 9, 2005

Customs officers in Dorohusk, on Poland's border with Ukraine, have made
an unusual seizure, confiscating nearly 530kg of meteorites they found
hidden in a Russian-registered truck, the AFP reported on Friday citing
local officials.

"In total, 529.5kg of meteorites were confiscated, including three very
big ones, weighing 176 kilos, 150 kilos and 80 kilos," Poland's customs
service said in a statement.

"They probably came from the same place in Siberia where a meteorite
crashed in 1947," the statement said.

According to the truck's payload ledgers, its cargo was quartzite, a
tough stone composed almost entirely of quartz grains, derived from
sandstone. The truck was bound for the Czech Republic.
Received on Fri 09 Sep 2005 11:11:31 AM PDT