A load of 14.58 tonnes of contraband tobacco was seized at the end of March by the customs brigade of La Rochelle and destroyed Thursday, July 1 in an incineration center in this city, announced the Poitiers regional directorate of customs and rights. direct.
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The seizure was made on March 30 in the trailer (registered in Portugal) of a truck registered in Spain, during a check on a rest area of the A10 between Niort and Bordeaux, according to a press release received on Friday, July 2. to AFP.
Customs officers discovered there "
36 pallets on which rested 108 boxes of cut raw tobacco for a total weight of 14,580 kg
", which turned out to be, after analysis, "
a commodity with all the characteristics of a tobacco. smoke
”.
Travel documents attest to the presence of "
26 cardboard pallets
" for transport between Belgium and Spain.
A judicial investigation was opened in Saintes (Charente-Maritime) and the investigation is being carried out by the Bordeaux unit of the financial judicial investigation service (SEJF).
In 2020, 284 tonnes of contraband tobacco and cigarettes were seized in France.