It is a pretty seizure carried out by the services of the French customs, at the end of February, in Aubervilliers.
The information has just been made public.
The control of a road assembly allowed the discovery, in the semi-trailer, of more than 17 tons of hookah tobacco.
A load, the value of which is estimated at more than 4 million euros on the underground market.
Customs officials also found the sum of 30,000 euros in cash in the tractor cabin.
“The transport documents mentioned a transit on the national territory, between Sète (Hérault) and Antwerp, in Belgium.
However, the findings suggest that this smuggled tobacco was intended for French territory, ”said the Ministry of the Economy, in a press release.
The customs services also detained two Belgians, "unfavorably known", who were on board a "passenger vehicle entered into contact with the road combination".
"This operation is the result of a vast customs investigation initiated in 2020", specifies the administration.
The rest of the investigation was entrusted to the Financial Judicial Investigations Service (SEJF) by the Bobigny public prosecutor's office.
183 tonnes of tobacco seized during the first three quarters of 2020
This decision is an opportunity for the ministry to highlight “the extent of this lucrative traffic.
The share of hookah tobacco - considered user-friendly - in the total volume of tobacco seizures made by customs services is increasing steadily ", notes the State, which notes the involvement of criminal organizations attracted by" the rapid and significant gain that provides this traffic as well as the ease of production ”.
In 2019, 45 tonnes of shisha tobacco were seized in the territory, mainly from the United Arab Emirates and Germany.
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“Recently, clandestine hookah tobacco manufacturing workshops have also been dismantled on European territory (Germany, Sweden, Belgium).
In 2018, French customs officers dismantled the first clandestine hookah tobacco manufacturing workshop in France in the north of Paris, ”adds the ministry, which praises the efficiency of the 2020-2021 tobacco plan.
“During the first three quarters of 2020, the customs services seized more than 183 tonnes of tobacco and 64,293 missions were devoted to the fight against tobacco trafficking.
"