The other day the Hungarian authorities informed the media about the seizure of 40 kilos of marijuana someone was trying to smuggle over the border with Serbia. Judging from media reports, the bust was routine: The pot had been hidden among some furniture on a trailer attached to a bus, in which sat an Albanian national who eventually fessed up to being the owner of the stuff. Where it got interesting for us was in the value of the stash as estimated by the National Tax and Customs Office: Ft 100 million. Which translates into HUF 2.5 million (roughly EUR 8,800) per kilo, or HUF 2,500 a gram. Which seems pretty high, even if you added Hungary’s EU-record 27% VAT to the total price. Help us out here! [index.hu]
CORRECTION: Due to an error in the editing process, an earlier version of this story had the estimated cost of the seized weed at HUF 25,000 a gram, rather than HUF 2,500. We apologize for any extra distress this may have caused readers who buy theirs by the gram.
