France: EUR 2.2 mln fine for Romanian truck driver caught transporting 5 tons of contraband tobacco

A truck driver from Romania has to pay a fine of almost EUR 2.2 million after the French authorities caught him transporting 5.2 tons of contraband tobacco, local Digi24 reported, quoting NordLittoral.

Aurel Andrei Neacsu was stopped in Coquelles, in northern France, to have his truck checked and that’s when the authorities found the 5 tons of tobacco for which the Romanian driver had no documents.

The investigators said the Romanian had been monitored all along. Neacsu admitted to the facts and said he regrets everything. He also said that he did it for his family, as he was promised EUR 8,000, and told the investigators that a man approached him in a parking lot in Belgium and then took him to a warehouse where the tobacco was loaded.

The Romanian also told the customs officers that he made similar transports before. One time he transported more than 2 tons of tobacco to the UK.

The customs representative estimated the value of the contraband tobacco at EUR 2.17 million and demanded an equivalent fine for the Romanian driver, while prosecutors asked the court for a 1-year prison sentence. The court ruled a 12-year suspended sentence for Neacsu, and also gave him a fine of EUR 2.17 million.

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