It was during a visit to Perthus (Pyrénées-Orientales), that Olivier Dussopt, Minister Delegate to the Minister of Economy presented the 2021 results of customs. In a press release, the customs services welcome the “exceptional results both nationally and for the Toulouse regional customs office, which covers the eight departments of the former Midi-Pyrénées region.”
Drug seizures on the rise
The customs services draw up a balance sheet on several tables. Regarding narcotics, 5.22 tonnes were seized in 2021, a quantity much higher than that discovered in 2020 (1.70 tons). In detail, the largest part (5.1 tons) is made up of cannabis. In addition, customs officers seized 20 kg of cocaine, 3 kg of heroin and 48 kg of khat.
In the fight against the illegal importation of tobacco, customs officers seized 6.64 tonnes of cigarettes in 2021 compared to 3.39 tonnes in 2020. Operations which mainly took place “on road vectors, from Andorra and Spain but also air, on travelers arriving from abroad and in express freight”.
Thousands of counterfeit items seized
Customs officers also fought against counterfeits (30,000 items seized in 2021 compared to 17,000 in 2020). This concerns for example care products, phone parts, toys, or even clothes. Finally, nearly 21 million euros in customs duties and VAT were reassessed in 2021 by the Toulouse regional customs department. This amount was 14 million in 2020 and 2019.