Nearly a ton of ecstasy seized by customs south of Lyon, suspect imprisoned

Lyon customs officers made a major seizure of nearly a ton of ecstasy on Thursday, October 31, at a toll booth on the A7, about thirty kilometers south of Lyon, the Vienna prosecutor's office communicated to Agence France. Press (AFP), Monday November 4, confirming information from the regional daily The Dauphiné liberated. The driver of the vehicle which transported her was indicted and then imprisoned in Paris, the prosecution of the national jurisdiction for the fight against organized crime of the Paris prosecutor's office told AFP.

A judicial investigation has been opened, in particular on the charge of importing and exporting narcotics in an organized gang, punishable by thirty years of criminal imprisonment and a fine of 7.5 million euros. The investigations were entrusted to the gendarmerie and the Anti-Narcotics Office (Ofast). At the start of the evening, the public prosecutor clarified that the arrested driver was indicted for all the offenses covered by the investigation and placed in pre-trial detention.

The van was intercepted at the Reventin-Vaugris toll with a cargo of 963 kilos of ecstasy, with an estimated value of between 15 and 20 million euros, declared the public prosecutor in Vienna, Olivier Rabot. “The driver was of Spanish nationality”specified Mr. Rabot, who announced that he had withdrawn from the case on Sunday in favor of the Paris prosecutor's office.

Two million doses of ecstasy

“This could be the largest seizure of ecstasy ever made on French territory”according to The Dauphiné liberated. Questioned by AFP, customs were not available to communicate on this seizure.

This capture of 963 kilos represents approximately two million doses of ecstasy, almost double the total quantity seized by French customs nationally for the year 2023.

On May 1, 2024, more than a million ecstasy tablets, or 542 kilos, were seized by the gendarmes in two vehicles traveling in the Drôme. This seizure alone then represented two thirds of the total ecstasy seized in 2022 in France. This seizure of 963 kilos represents approximately 2 million doses of ecstasy, almost double the total quantity seized by French customs nationally for the year 2023.