German police and customs seize smuggled cosmetics and cigarettes

Police on the A3 near Aschaffenburg stopped a French‑registered VW Touran and found three bags of cosmetics valued at about €15,000 in the trunk. The two Romanian‑citizen occupants could not prove ownership, leading to a criminal investigation for suspected commercial resale.

Customs officers in Saarland, using a mobile X‑ray scanner at a highway stop near Kaiserslautern, uncovered more than 23,000 untaxed cigarettes concealed in seat‑upholstery of a Romanian‑driven van bound for Paris. The haul avoided a tax loss of over €4,800, and the driver faces a tax‑fraud proceeding. Both cases illustrate heightened German enforcement against cross‑border smuggling of consumer goods.