This important catch was carried out by the customs officers in the evening of this Sunday, December 15 at theBeauvais airportbut was only made public this Thursday, December 19 by customs.
Customs services intercepted 885 cartons of cigarettes in the suitcases of five passengers. These five people were traveling together and arriving from Rome.
American Legend brand contraband cigarettes
“The targeting of customs officers, like their stubbornness in carrying out the control, allowed them to thwart the plans of the fraudsters, who clearly intended to supply the parallel market with contraband American Legend brand cigarettes,” customs welcomes in a press release sent this Thursday, December 19.
54-year-old Egyptian sentenced to 6 months suspended sentence
Among the five passengers involved, customs services reveal that the main perpetrator of this offense is a 54-year-old Egyptian citizen. The latter was traveling in the company of his two sons, one of whom is a minor. To investigators, he declared that he worked as an import-export entrepreneur but is already unfavorably known to customs services for similar offenses.
In his suitcase, he carried around 4,000 packs of cigarettes.
The man was placed in customs detention, before being handed over to the border police for legal action.
Since the events, the man was sentenced by the Beauvais judicial court this Tuesday, December 17. He was presented under the regime of appearance on prior recognition of guilt (a sort of French plea of guilty). He received a 5,000 euro customs fine and a six-month suspended prison sentence as well as a ban on appearing on French territory for a period of three years.
In their press release, customs recall that the Beauvais brigade has already seized 1.3 tonnes of various tobacco products during its checks.
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