A man has been sentenced to 18 months in prison and fined more than €250,000 for running a large-scale cigarette trafficking operation between Belgium and France.
The court in Valence handed down a customs fine of €249,831 for illegal tobacco possession, along with an additional €19,600 penalty for money laundering, according to French customs authorities.
The suspect, from the Ardèche region, was already known to police for similar offences. He regularly travelled between Belgium and France, operating what investigators described as a wholesale trafficking network involving several tonnes of cigarettes.
He was eventually stopped during a customs check at the Loriol toll in the Drôme region.
Officers initially discovered 25 boxes in his vehicle, each containing 50 cartons of cigarettes. Further searches at his home uncovered an additional 12 boxes and €19,600 in cash, which was seized as part of the laundering investigation.
Authorities said the man acted as a "wholesaler", illegally supplying cigarette cartons to resellers across the region.
