A vehicle was stopped with 920 kg of counterfeit tobacco by the customs of Amiens (Somme) this Tuesday on the A1 motorway near Longueil-Sainte-Marie (Oise).
A few hours later, two other utilities were intercepted at the Chamant toll (Oise) with 100 and 150 kg of cigarettes on board respectively, reports
Le Parisien
.
The vehicles came from Belgium and were going to the Paris region, said the regional customs directorate.
In total, nearly 60,000 packets of cigarettes were seized.
The first vehicle alone contained 46,000.
Its French driver was placed in customs detention.
The cigarettes produced in a clandestine factory were intended for sale on the street or on the Internet.
The drivers of the other two vehicles were carrying some 12,500 packs of cigarettes.
Tried in immediate appearance for admission of guilt this Thursday in Senlis (Oise), they were each sentenced to five months in prison suspended and customs fines of 12,000 and 20,000 euros.
A scout vehicle was also stopped.
Its occupants will be judged next April.
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Beauvais
Hauts-de-France
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Cigarette
Smuggling