Norwegian Teens Caught Smuggling Arms

Norwegian teens were briefly taken into custody in Germany after they were caught trying to smuggle weapons into the country during a school trip focused on peace, organizers said on Wednesday. Police at the German-Czech border last week stopped a bus carrying 89 Norwegian high school students coming back from a short stop in Prague after visiting the Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps in Poland. On the bus, German border guards found ninja stars, brass knuckles and switchblades that eight boys, aged about 15 years old, had bought to bring home as souvenirs. "The boys wanted to decorate their rooms with these weapons, but at the border they lost their nerve and decided themselves to reveal them" to the guards, trip organizer Tor Bernt Sunde told AFP. An adult accompanying the group was also found to be carrying an AK-47 Kalashnikov assault rifle. The weapon was sealed and the owner had a buyer's certificate. No charges have been brought against the students in question or their chaperone.