customs mobilized against illegal goods, as summer approaches

In the parking lot of the Hill area, on the National 137 on arrival in Rennes, a handful of bikers escort cars and trucks in turn. The targeted vehicles were spotted on this axis, linking Nantes to the Breton capital. On their arrival, customs officers check and sift through the cabins. The bikers had flair, bringing this Mercedes registered in Spain.

Narco, the specialized dog “anti-narcotics, anti-weapons, anti-ammunition” approaches. “He made the two bags that were in it, it’s unstoppable. Cannabis is easy for the dog“, laughs almost Noelle, the dog handler. Very quickly, a bag, filled with green grass, is detected : a hundred grams of cannabis. “A hundred? No, you have to tare the scale before weighing”pretends to be indignant the driver, a seasonal worker who goes to Brittany for the summer. “Either you pay the fine, and you leave, or we handcuff both of you and seize the car, it’s the law!”replies the customs officer, the main controller Benoît.

Fines for small amounts of drugs

After long discussions, the seasonal worker gets into an unmarked car, heading for a distributor, to withdraw the 400 euros customs fine. A light sanction, compared to what the man would risk by crossing the road of police or gendarmes. “These are people who come from Spain, where cannabis is much cheaper than in France. As they are going to stay three or four months, they bring back the consumption of three or four months, it’s not to resell“, explains the main controller Benoît. “We have the transaction authorization without notifying the prosecutor. We have no right to disclose the thresholds, the prosecutors do what they want. For herbal cannabis, there we are in the threshold, so no need to warn the prosecutor, it will end with a fine. It is done so as not to clutter up the courts.” After payment and seizure of the drugs, the man can leave, not without emphasizing that he was going to have to buy grass again for the summer.

This type of operation is “current“, assure the customs officers. Moreover, during the presence of the journalist from France Bleu Armorique, several other drivers will be checked in possession of small quantities of drugs. This is not what is particularly sought after. Customs objectives, large quantities of drugs, cash whose origin seems doubtful, counterfeits or even protected animals. “It could also be weapons, there are a lot of them circulating at the moment, contraband cigarettes…”, continues Benedict. “The interest of the customs officer’s work is that you don’t know what you’re going to find. We know that by working on these axes, goods circulate. You can come across large quantities of drugs or counterfeit brands.”

Larger illegal products in Brittany during the summer

With the summer, illegal products will be more numerous, in Brittany. “It’s obvious.” There are people who will take advantage of the beaches to sell products, the parties will resume. After, the controls, we will not do more or less, the number of agents is not extensibleThe agents will therefore continue to travel the roads, the trains, or the airport of Rennes-Saint-Jacques, where they are in charge of the management of migratory flows.

“We search a lot, we don’t find all the shots, that’s clear. But we still have, especially on this unit of Rennes BSI, very good litigation results, whether in the train or on certain road points, at the toll in particular. We make sure to carry out the most meticulous control possible to the extent of our means.“, underlines Jean-Pierre Billon, Director of first class customs services and head of the Côtes-d’Armor and Ille-et-Vilaine customs division.

“Everything that catches our attention is obviously everything that is absolutely prohibited”, insists Jean-Pierre Billon. “Narcotics are part of it, as are weapons and what is dangerous and harmful to public health. Counterfeits can unfortunately combine several disadvantages: c commercial damage for the brand, the deceptive aspect for the consumer, and then the equally dangerous side since everything is likely to be counterfeited. Summer is also conducive to large seizures, on the markets for example.