Serial burglaries, rising tobacco prices: the tobacconists of Puy-de-Dôme have had enough. With 40 burglaries this year, the department holds the French record. The profession is not slowing down.
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It was half past four in the morning, on the night of last Friday to Saturday, when the alarm went off in this tobacconist. Upon his arrival, David Sicard, a tobacconist in Saint-Germain-Lembron (Puy-de-Dôme), noticed that 2,000 euros of tobacco had been stolen by three individuals of whom he had specific memories. “We were very afraid to find our store devastated“, he confides. “It’s our work tool.“
This burglary adds to a long series in the department: 40 in all since the start of the year. More than 10% of tobacconists in Puy-de-Dôme were relieved. David expected it. “It's our daily life. We are afraid all the time. Now that it's happened, it's even worse. We say to ourselves 'hopefully they don't come back tonight', but the fear has to change sides.“
For tobacconists, the explanation for the increase in thefts is simple. “I make the link between burglaries, the illegal parallel market and the enormous rise in tobacco prices”explains Vincent Charbonnel, president of the confederation of tobacconists of Puy-de-Dôme. “The average price is currently 12 euros for a pack of cigarettes. These increases encourage a parallel market.”
And to add: “In 2024, Puy-de-Dôme was the department most affected in France by this type of burglary, probably because it is in the center of the country. It is more difficult to get cigarettes in Spain or in Luxembourg.“
Faced with this scourge, MP Delphine Lingemann announced that she would ask the future government to strengthen the resources of customs and law enforcement. “With the prefect and the police, we are on the ground“, indicates the MoDem deputy for the 4th constituency of Puy-de-Dôme. “I think that in the next 2025 budget, which we should work on at the start of the school year, we will have to strengthen the resources allocated to our law enforcement, customs and justice.“
In 2023, tobacco trafficking in France resulted in a tax loss estimated at 6 billion euros for the State.
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