Customs agents seized more than 17 tonnes of contraband cigarettes in the vicinity of Angers and arrested three suspects, who were indicted and imprisoned, the Rennes prosecutor's office announced on Friday.
On the morning of February 21, agents from the Angers customs brigade checked a warehouse in which they discovered several pallets of boxes containing cigarettes weighing 6,648 tonnes.
In the trailer of a heavy goods vehicle registered abroad, they then found 26 other pallets, weighing 10.4 tonnes, added the prosecution in a press release.
In total, the cigarettes seized have an estimated market value of more than 10 million euros.
Three men placed in customs detention
The truck driver and two other people present, three men aged 27 to 44 who hold dual Moldovan and Romanian nationality, were placed in customs detention.
Referred this Friday to the Rennes public prosecutor's office, they were indicted as part of a judicial investigation opened in particular for smuggling and organized gang importation of manufactured tobacco products and participation in a criminal association with a view to the preparation of an offense punishable by 10 years of imprisonment.
This very significant seizure follows another seizure of 7.6 tonnes carried out on February 8 in the town of Saint-Sulpice-de-Pommeray (Loir-et-Cher), recalls the Rennes public prosecutor's office.