Some 500,000 packets of contraband cigarettes, or around ten tonnes of illicit tobacco intended to supply the parallel market in the Lyon region, were seized in Burgundy, customs announced on Tuesday 31 May.
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Agents of the Lons-le-Saunier (Jura) brigade intercepted on May 24, on the A6 motorway in Saint-Rémi (Saône-et-Loire), a Polish truck to check its load.
The vehicle, coming from Belgium, was officially supposed to deliver packaging materials in the Lyon region but the opening of the pallets revealed the presence of a large number of cartons of cigarettes, worth five million euros on the market legal tobacco, says the customs press release.
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The Chalon-sur-Saône prosecutor's office sent the driver back to the criminal court, which sentenced him to 15 months in prison on Monday.
More than 400 tonnes of contraband tobacco were seized in France in 2021, a figure up 41% year on year.
