"The" smuggler way is actually the wrong expression: correctly it would have to be called "a" smuggler way.
After the Second World War they were at (almost) all borders and everywhere dramatic scenes took place.
Perhaps the smuggler stories from the Northern Eifel region (Aachen area) are perhaps less known, but perhaps even more dramatic is what happened in the South Eifel in the post-war years.
Bettelarm and without (paid) work opportunity, lost and / or destroyed goods, there were many alternatives for many eager people.
One of them was coffee from Luxembourg.
But do not drink to yourself.
The coffee was smuggled across the border at night (through the River Our) and then sold to the black market in Cologne, about 130 km away.
The customs officers at the border have tried to stop this illegal activity and did not shy away from firearms use.
On the part of the customs officers and customs but also the judicial authorities, there are certainly still reports and entries on incidents from this period.
From the perspective of the population there is nothing or little, eyewitnesses are practically no longer there: they should now be over 90.