French customs seize 100 kg of counterfeit cigarettes on A29

On 16 June 2026, customs officers of the Amiens inland surveillance brigade stopped a passenger van traveling on the A29 motorway toward Rouen. Inside they found ten cartons, each containing 50 packs of Marlboro cigarettes marked “Duty Free”, totaling 500 cartons (≈99.94 kg) of untaxed tobacco. The driver, a man in his thirties residing in Brussels, said he was paid €400 to transport the cargo to an undisclosed drop‑off point. He was detained, the vehicle and contraband were seized, and he was handed over to the local gendarmerie. A court in Amiens later imposed a €15,000 customs fine on the driver. The seizure adds to more than 1.7 tonnes of illicit cigarettes already removed from the market in the Somme department this year.