• A control operation involving various law enforcement services took place this Tuesday morning at 24 sites in New Aquitaine.

  • With this cooperation, it was a question of managing all the types of infringements observed on the structuring axes of traffic, such as on the toll of Virsac in Gironde.

  • The Aquitaine motorway CRS carried out a targeted control action on heavy goods vehicles in Bègles.

A gendarmerie helicopter spends part of the morning this Tuesday flying over the Virsac toll on the A10 in Gironde to spot vehicles that do not respect the safety distances.

Identified from the air, they are then stopped at the filter barrier and asked to park.

Some attract the attention of the military for other reasons.

They are all subject to inspection, which can be in-depth if necessary, as part of the TAMIS operation (identity documents, addictions, goods, irregular immigration and road safety).

The device brings together several services (gendarmerie, customs, etc.) and took place this Tuesday morning in 24 points of the twelve departments of New Aquitaine, under the authority of the prefect.

“Manage all violations”

“This is an all-out operation, comments General Samuel Dubuis, commander of the New-Aquitaine gendarmerie region.

We have document fraud experts, customs, ten dog teams and two helicopters.

We have a concentration of expertise to be able to manage all infringements”.

With the various services mobilized, it is possible to quickly deal with offenses by carrying out a demonstration of force, with a deterrent vocation.

In the middle of the morning, "a foreigner in an irregular situation" had been taken to the premises of the gendarmerie after a check at the toll.

In Virsac, the 15 soldiers present stop many vehicles of all types and work in coordination with the customs service which checks the loads.

“Here, we have a dozen customs officers, including two bikers and a team of dog handlers to apprehend possible trafficking in narcotics, illicit money, counterfeits, tobacco, etc.

A lot of things circulate in our region, on the border with Spain,” explains Serge Puccetti, interregional director of customs for New Aquitaine.

His men spent a while thoroughly inspecting a car.

"There was the marking of a dog on a dashboard which was dismantled by customs officers and we noticed that the screws were worn, which shows that it has already been dismantled, which is not not usual…”, he adds.


Heavyweights in the sights of controls

"New Aquitaine is a crossing point between northern Europe and Spain," recalls General Samuel Dubuis.

Here in Virsac, 1,500 to 2,000 vehicles pass through every hour, sometimes 40% of which are heavy goods vehicles.

It is a sensitive season in terms of road safety and flows will intensify between now and the end of the year.

On the Hourcade de Bègles platform, the motorway CRS is also carrying out a specific operation on these numerous heavy goods vehicles.

“Heavyweight drivers know that when they pass through Gironde, they are often checked,” explains Major Ulrich Grellier of the CRS Autoroutière Aquitaine.

They spread the word, it already limits unauthorized overtaking, despite this we still have a lot, especially in the descent of Bouliac.

The problem is the staff [of CRS].

From January 1, 2023, the ban on overtaking on the ring road will be extended from the Aquitaine bridge to interchange 15.

This Tuesday, a Portuguese truck driver, for example, was fined.

“He exceeded his authorized driving time by more than six hours over a period of fifteen days, so we will issue him a report of 135 euros, to be paid on the spot”, specifies Major Stéphane Maroussie, CRS Autoroutière Aquitaine.

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  • Company

  • Gironde

  • Aquitaine

  • CRS

  • Spain

  • Gendarmerie

  • Customs