If “The Game” on TV 2 had only been about exposing people’s lies, participant Steffen Eriksen (59) would probably have had an advantage in the competition. Through his job as a customs officer, he has become quite good at distinguishing between lies and truth.
Eriksen is already known from the TV 2 program “Toll”, where the TV cameras follow him at work.
– By virtue of my profession, I am perhaps better than most at seeing when people are lying, just like my colleagues. So we have reasonably good experience with that, Eriksen shares with Nettavisen.
Whether it’s enough to win “The Game” remains to be seen, but on a day-to-day basis, it’s certainly a quality that comes in handy for the 59-year-old – who has worked as a customs officer since 1985.
– There is a reason why I have been at the Customs Agency for so long. It is very rewarding, he says of his job.
– Many destinies
During his 39 years as a customs officer, Eriksen, who is “the game” in question, has come across most things.
He works at Gardermoen, and has a daily goal of weeding out those who try to smuggle too much or something illegal into the country. Precisely helping to put an end to crime and illegality is what the customs officer particularly likes.
– There are challenges every day, and it’s very interesting when we find what we’re looking for and stop the mischief, he says.
Nevertheless, he acknowledges that it is painful to see how far some people go to cheat the system.
– There are many destinies out there, he shares with a hurt look.
– There are also some who just want to make as much money as possible from other people’s misfortune. I’m talking about drugs then.
2.3 kilograms of drugs in the body
Although his job is to find, among other things, drugs, Eriksen is clear that it is not the case that he hopes to find several kilos a day. He doesn’t either, which he thinks is a good thing. Because the more they find, the more actually exists.
– It would not have been cool to find three kilos of cocaine every day, as it were, because that would mean that there is a hell of a lot in this town. And that would not have been good at all, says the publican.
As mentioned, Eriksen has seen most things in his job, and says that he is particularly shocked when he sees how much some people are willing to smuggle inside their own body.
– A plane passenger had 2.3 kilograms of cocaine inside his body, he recalls.
– But then it pushed quite well in the end, so when we were standing at the counter the balls fell out and onto the floor in front of me. Then it started to smell like poop. There is so much drugs in a body, there are over 200 such little balls. It is so sick to see, he adds.
Will not reveal this
Over the years, Eriksen has learned several signs of lying, but he does not want to reveal them:
– I can’t tell you that, because then things will go badly, he laughs.
– But there is a lot that can reveal you, there is a lot we are looking for. Then we can hang those signs on the different pegs. Often that is true, but not always, he adds.
At the same time, the customs officer points out that you never know who has come forward to lie – and that you must be careful anyway:
– There is no definitive answer to who is doing something illegal, it can be anything from a six-year-old to a man in his 90s.