The driver, who was transporting nearly 8 tonnes of cigarettes in the Somme, was given a 10-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of 500,000 euros.
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The equivalent of “more than 7 million euros” of goods in the hands of the patrol. Customs seized nearly 15 tonnes of contraband cigarettes in 24 hours at the start of the week, in the Somme and the Pyrénées-Orientales, announced Friday, February 18 the Minister Delegate in charge of Public Accounts, Olivier Dussopt. In total, “740,000 packets of cigarettes intended to supply the parallel market for the illicit resale of tobacco” were seized, detailed the ministry.
On Monday, 7.6 tons were first discovered in a truck registered in Romania, checked on the A1 motorway in the direction of the North. The driver, who indicated that he was transporting 19 pallets of papers to the Netherlands, was sentenced in an immediate appearance by the Amiens judicial court to 10 months in prison suspended and a customs fine of 500,000 euros.
On Tuesday, customs officers then seized 7.2 tonnes of cigarettes hidden under pallets of oranges in a truck checked at the Boulou toll on the A9, near the Spanish border. The investigation was entrusted to the finance judicial investigation service.