Stink gives away garlic smugglers

Five men have been charged under suspicion of handling stolen goods after police halted a 9-ton haul of garlic at the Hungarian border.

Three vehicles were apprehended, with police noting that the drivers were carrying three times the legal load.

None of the suspects was able to explain where the garlic had come from.

Police at the scene told the Austria Press Agency that the sagging state of the vehicles, together with an overwhelmingly intense smell, sparked suspicion among the officers.

The gargantuan stock of garlic could fetch 30,000 euro, and would be enough to ward off even the most nonchalant band of vampires.

Police believe that the cargo hails from Spain. The suspects are all Romanian, and aged between 25 and 37.

Garlic is widely used in Hungarian cuisine, and is an essential ingredient in such enduringly popular national dishes as goulash.

The largest garlic producer in the world by a considerable measure is China.