Tobacco trafficking represents several billion euros in losses for public finances each year. Aix-en-Provence customs officers made the largest seizure of the operation, on the road, with 10.4 tonnes of cigarettes.
In total, the operation resulted in 108 arrests and the opening of 52 files requesting administrative closures for establishments selling illicit merchandise. Since December 2021, the authorities have dismantled five clandestine cigarette manufacturing factories in France, a veritable cash machine for criminal organizations, often specializing in drug trafficking.