Toulouse: Cigarette smuggling, customers soon to be fined
Six people involved in cigarette trafficking were indicted and five were imprisoned on Wednesday in Toulouse. The prosecution will increase the pressure on smugglers and also wants to punish buyers.
A convoy intercepted on the return from Andorra, searches of seven people closely monitored for several weeks and accustomed to cross-border round trips, the police of the departmental security struck tobacco smugglers on Tuesday. With a great success for the investigators of the narcotics and underground economy unit since the various searches have indeed made it possible to seize 1,298 cartons of cigarettes.
Beyond the suspicions that already weighed on this team, adept at expeditions to Pas-de-la-Case, in Andorra or to the villages of Val d’Aran, in Spain, the police seized more than 12,000 € of cigarettes, 35 packets of tobacco, 8.8 kg of rolling tobacco but also €31,760 in cash. Two cars used by the suspects during their trips were also seized.
€10,000 profit per trip
According to the investigations of the police, who worked on these suspects on the rogatory commission of a Toulouse investigating judge from March 10, the expeditions to buy tobacco occurred at least three times a week. With 200 to 400 cartridges the gains go up quickly. The benefit would be evaluated around 10 € per cartridge. “Quietly gaining €10,000 per week”, calculates a source familiar with the matter.
This tobacco was resold by smugglers on the Toulouse parallel markets, notably Arnaud-Bernard, Bagatelle or Empalot. “Prices have increased. Now the package is sold for €7,” warns a smoker. This is still €3 less than among tobacconists who continue to mobilize against this black market.
Pressure on smugglers… and customers
Precisely the prosecutor Samuel Vuelta-Simon, very satisfied with the result of this investigation where seven people were arrested, six presented to the judge and indicted, five imprisoned, one placed under judicial control, want to go further. “We will continue to put pressure on this traffic, often with the same networks that we find in drug trafficking, and which has started to rise again since 2021.”
Above all, the prosecution boss will ask the services to also put pressure on buyers. “The purchase of cigarettes outside the places of sale controlled by the State constitutes an offense recalls the prosecutor. Beyond the health risk, sometimes with counterfeit tobacco and without any guarantee, these consumers encourage the existence of this traffic. We will therefore verbalize them. »
At €135 per offence, smoking is going to get really expensive.