This is what is called trusting the Post.
A 33-year-old man was sentenced to seven months in prison in Besançon, for selling hundreds of weapons that he simply sent by parcel, the prosecution said on Friday.
In total he posted 80 packages with a total weight of almost a ton.
This former gunner passionate about weapons was tried by the Besançon Criminal Court for "unauthorized acquisition, possession and transfer of weapons" and "smuggling of goods dangerous for public safety", as part of a court appearance of acknowledgment of guilt.
Between 2018 and 2020, he sold "250 objects" such as shells, grenades, guns or ammunition to customers generally domiciled abroad, in Europe, "out of passion and to make ends meet", said the public prosecutor Etienne Manteaux during a press conference.
A shell discovered at the sorting center
The financial judicial inquiries service (SEJF) was seized of the investigation last October after the discovery by customs, at the postal sorting center of Saint-Priest (Rhône), of a shell hidden in a parcel of 12 kilos.
A search carried out at the home of the sender, on the outskirts of Besançon, revealed 28 weapons of war, including certain shells and grenades not struck - retaining an explosive potential -, 36 long guns and a large stock of ammunition.
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"These are rather old weapons, but which are not neutralized and are in working order", noted prosecutor Etienne Manteaux.
This underlines the "risk that these weapons do not end up in the wrong hands".
The thirty-something, a self-employed person with no criminal record who admitted the facts, explained that he "was looking for shells and ammunition in the forests around Besançon with metal detectors". And to sell them… No problem, the Post Office was there.
