Amazing case in France, where a Romanian truck driver was severely punished. The 40-year-old man was sentenced to prison and fined over 5,000,000 euros. What the French authorities discovered in TIR, following the checks.
Colossal fine for a Romanian truck driver in France
A Romanian truck driver was sentenced to prison and a huge fine after he was found to be transporting ten tons of counterfeit cigarettes. The man was brought before a court in Avesnes-sur-Helpe, France, which handed down an extremely harsh sentence.
Therefore, he was sentenced to a year in prison and to pay a huge fine that corresponds exactly to the value of the cigarettes found, 5,249,790 euros. At the same time, his truck and goods were confiscated.
It was carrying 10 tons of counterfeit cigarettes
On February 8, in Avesnes-sur-Helpe, customs officers checked the cargo of a Romanian driver, finding the equivalent of 10 tons of counterfeit cigarettes on 26 pallets. Also, three phones were found on him, one of them being used as a router to fool telephone relays.
On Tuesday, May 23, the driver, who has been working in the field of international transport for over 14 years, was brought before the Avesnes court to explain his actions.
According to the accusation, the Romanian was paid for a plane ticket on the route Moldova – Germany, Düsseldorf, by an “employer” whose name the man did not want to specify. From Germany he traveled to Antwerp, Belgium to pick up the “sealed” semi-trailer and then left for Paris.
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“I follow orders”
Since he did not have documents certifying the transport, this act is considered smuggling. “I execute the orders,” the Romanian said in front of the court, writes Voix du Nord.
“And if you transport children, cocaine…”, the court insisted, without getting any other answer than the one already given. “Precisely because there are drivers like the defendant, who are not very careful, there is large-scale traffic,” said the deputy prosecutor, who asked for 12 months in prison with a summons, a fine of 5,249,790 euros and the confiscation of the truck and cigarettes.
Although the driver’s lawyer pleaded for the presumption of innocence and asked for acquittal, the court followed the deputy prosecutor’s decision. The driver can still appeal.
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