EXCLUSIVE – The Phocaean customs officers are full of methods to dry up the clandestine supply chains that plague the second city in France. More than 10 tonnes of illegal tobacco were entered in 2024.
On the port of the Marseille city, it is rumored that half of the smoked cigarettes in Marseille come from the illegal market. A statistic that paralyzes tobacco professionals, faced with a real «vague» responsible for their drowning. “We are witnessing industrialization and trivialization of this traffic. The clandestine sectors realized that it was remunerative while the buyer no longer has the impression of fraud ”explains Philippe Coy, president of the Confederation of tobacconists.
Foreign tobacco packages hidden in packages, cartridges from smuggling in maritime containers or clandestine factories flooding the hexagon of counterfeits testify to the extent of the phenomenon. “Tobacco traffic generates disorder in France. It is a parallel economy that fuels resale on the life and created a phenomenon of insecurity ”confirms Michael Lachaux, Regional Director of Customs of Marseille.
The latter said …
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