French Customs (Douane)
🇫🇷 France · Customs · 30 reports
- People arrested
- 74
- Cannabis seized
- 61.4822 t
Totals of what these reports state; a report counts when a source it cites names the agency.
Two drivers held at Fontaine toll with 40 kg of cannabis
Customs officers seized 40 kg of cannabis products from a Spanish UPS truck at the Fontaine toll on the A36 on 9 November 2026. Two Spain-based delivery drivers, aged 36 and 46, were detained after admitting they acted as “mules” for a load collected in Madrid.
Arrested 2Cannabis 40 kgMoroccan driver jailed 28 months after customs chase and 20 kg cannabis crash
A 41-year-old Moroccan national living in Montpellier was caught on the A9 with close to 20 kg of cannabis after trying to shake off Catalan customs officers and crashing at the entrance to Narbonne on 7 November 2026. The Narbonne criminal court jailed him for 28 months and banned him from French territory for five years.
Arrested 1Charged 1Cannabis 20 kgPrison 28 months3,560 US THC gummy packs seized en route to Netherlands
OLAF and French Customs seized and destroyed 3,560 packs of US-origin THC gummies destined for the Netherlands, most in counterfeit packs mimicking a well-known brand. The enquiry also identified online vendors and French shops selling illicit psychoactive products and warned the familiar packaging hid unpredictable THC doses, especially risky for children.
2 men held on A4 at Hatrize with cannabis for prison delivery
Customs officers stopped two men aged 28 and 23 on the A4 at Hatrize on 28 October and found cannabis resin, a drone and lighters allegedly intended for delivery to prisoners. The pair appeared before the Val de Briey court on 2 November, saying they were only transporters.
Arrested 2Charged 2GNB seizes 1,486 kg of marijuana from a boat off Falcón
The Bolivarian National Guard stopped a go-fast boat off Falcón and arrested three people. The load was 1,485.506 kg of marijuana in 1,726 cakes and 8.856 kg of cocaine in nine cakes, after intelligence work with French customs.
Arrested 3Cannabis 1.485506 tCustoms find 2,562 kg of cannabis resin under machine tools in a Le Havre container
At the end of June 2026 customs officers in Le Havre found 2,562 kg of cannabis resin sealed in metal boxes under machine tools weighing two tonnes each, in a container from Senegal bound for Libya. Customs valued it at nearly 20.5 million euros — more than six times all cannabis seized at sea in France in 2025.
Cannabis 2.562 t113 kg of cannabis resin seized from a lorry at Lauzerte; driver charged
Customs officers arrested a lorry driver on a country road at Lauzerte, Tarn-et-Garonne, on 1 July 2026 after he tried to force their roadblock, and found 113 kg of cannabis resin from Spain in a magnetic cache in the vehicle. A Montauban judge charged him with importing and transporting narcotics and with customs smuggling, and remanded him in pre-trial detention two days later.
Arrested 1Charged 1Cannabis 113 kgSix held as 70 kg of US cannabis resin seized in Réunion
Gendarmes in Réunion broke up a suspected drug-importation network on 30 June 2026 after customs intercepted a US air-freight parcel holding 70 kg of cannabis resin worth over 1.7 million euros. Six people were arrested, and searches also recovered cash, cocaine and vehicles; most suspects were placed in pre-trial detention.
Arrested 6Cannabis 70 kgCash confiscated EUR 17,000British teacher jailed two years over 16.5 kg of cannabis at Réunion airport
The Saint-Denis correctional court sentenced a 43-year-old British former English teacher to two years in prison with continued detention on 10 June 2026, after customs found 16.5 kg of cannabis herb in his luggage on arrival from Bangkok. The court rejected his account that he believed he was carrying computer servers, and he also faces a 214,500-euro customs fine.
Arrested 1Charged 1Convicted 1Sentenced 1Over a tonne of cannabis resin seized in van at Gerzat toll, A71
French customs seized more than a tonne of cannabis resin from a van at the Gerzat toll on the A71 on 9 April 2026. The driver was arrested and the Clermont-Ferrand judicial police opened an investigation.
Arrested 1984 g of cannabis resin seized in Dillon postal parcels
Customs and La Poste staff checking parcels at the Dillon sorting centre in Fort-de-France seized 984 g of cannabis resin, 26 counterfeit wireless earbuds and 90 g of rolling tobacco on 2 March 2026. Prefect Étienne Desplanques attended the operation; no arrests were reported.
Cannabis 984 g355 kg resin found in Barcelona-bound truck at Arles toll; driver jailed 3 years
Customs officers of the Nîmes brigade found 355 kilograms of cannabis resin hidden behind sacks of sawdust in a truck stopped at the Arles toll on the A54 on the night of 29 January 2026. The 53-year-old driver was sentenced on 3 February to three years in prison, a five-year ban from France and a 710,000-euro customs fine.
Arrested 1Charged 1Cannabis 355 kgPrison 3 yearsCustoms seize 5 kg of cannabis herb from a speedboat off Martinique
French customs coastguard officers stopped a speedboat from Saint Lucia near the Martinique coast on 25 January 2026 and found more than 5 kg of cannabis herb hidden in the passengers' luggage, alongside 105.8 kg of smuggled cigarettes. The cannabis case was handed to the national police's territorial directorate in Martinique.
Cannabis 5 kgCouple jailed over 20 kg cannabis resin at Réunion airport
Four people arrested in a 2 October 2025 control at Roland Garros Airport were sentenced on 26 November 2025 over 20.1 kg of cannabis resin found in a mother's suitcase. The mother received two years and her husband three years of firm prison, with two accomplices given suspended terms and a joint 302,700-euro customs fine.
Arrested 4Sentenced 4Cannabis 20.1 kgPrison 3 yearsBelgian driver jailed 18 months over 3.1 kg cannabis on A31
French customs arrested a 24-year-old Belgian driver on the A31 at Zoufftgen on 10 August 2025 and seized 3.1 kg of cannabis from his car while his passenger fled. The Thionville criminal court sentenced him to 18 months in prison, plus driving and territory bans and a 20,000-euro customs fine.
Arrested 1Charged 1Cannabis 3.1 kgPrison 18 monthsTwo jailed three years after 208 kg of cannabis found at Gye toll
Customs officers stopped two men at the Gye toll plaza in Meurthe-et-Moselle on 23 May 2025 and found 200 kg of cannabis resin and 8 kg of cannabis herb in a car. A court in Nancy sentenced both to three years in prison and a 730,000-euro customs fine.
Arrested 2Charged 2Cannabis 208 kgPrison 3 years107 kg of cannabis seized from a yole at Anses d'Arlet; three held, one jailed
Customs, navy and RAID police intercepted a cannabis landing at Anses d'Arlet in Martinique on 28 March 2025, seizing 107.24 kg from an abandoned car and boarding the yole that brought it in. Three suspects were held; the man detained on land got one year in prison and a 160,000 euro fine, while the two taken at sea were freed with orders to leave France.
Arrested 3Charged 1Sentenced 1Released 2Ten held as Guadix hashish and cannabis network is dismantled
Customs and Guardia Civil officers have dismantled a Guadix-based network that hid hashish and cannabis in wool bales, livestock trucks and scrap consignments bound for central Europe, arresting ten people. The operation seized 1,147 kg of hashish and 755 kg of cannabis and froze bank accounts, homes and vehicles.
Arrested 10Cannabis 1.902 tRomanian trucker jailed four years over 50 kg cannabis at Tavel
A 32-year-old Romanian lorry driver was jailed for four years and fined €270,000 after customs officers found 50 kilograms of cannabis hidden among vegetables in his truck at the Tavel rest area on 16 February 2023.
Arrested 1Cannabis 50 kgPrison 4 yearsFine EUR 270,000Sailboat with 4.3 tonnes of hashish intercepted off Recife
Brazil's Federal Police and Navy intercepted a sailboat coming from Portugal about 230 nautical miles off Recife on 16 June 2021 and seized 4,304 kg of hashish. Two crew members, an Estonian and a Russian, were arrested in what police called Brazil's biggest hashish seizure.
Arrested 2Cannabis 4.304 t56.8 kg of cannabis seized from Spanish truck at Dudelange-Zoufftgen
Luxembourg and French customs stopped a Spanish-registered refrigerated truck at the Dudelange-Zoufftgen border crossing on 16 May 2018 and seized 56.8 kg of cannabis herb hidden behind declared vegetables. Customs detected the sports bags with Luxembourg's mobile X-ray scanner and valued the haul at 500,000 euros on the black market.
Cannabis 56.8 kg133 kg of cannabis seized from a tapouille off Le Prêcheur; five held
French customs coastguards and OCRTIS police intercepted a Saint Vincent fishing boat about 25 km north-west of Le Prêcheur, Martinique, on 6 April 2016 and recovered about twenty bales of cannabis herb weighing 133 kg after the crew threw them overboard. The five passengers, nationals of Saint Vincent, Grenada and Dominica, were placed in police custody in Fort-de-France.
Arrested 5Cannabis 133 kgFrench trafficker held in Ghent over 7.1-tonne Paris seizure
French customs seized 7.1 tonnes of cannabis resin from three vans in Paris's 16th arrondissement in October 2015, with no arrests at the time. Belgian police arrested Sofiane Hambli in Ghent on 22 February 2016 on a Paris judge's European warrant over the case and held him for transfer to France.
Arrested 1Cannabis 7.1 tFrench customs seize 7.1 tonnes of cannabis in Paris vans
French customs found 7.1 tonnes of cannabis in the boots of three hire vans parked in Paris's upmarket 16th arrondissement overnight on 17-18 October 2015 after a weeks-long DNRED investigation. President Hollande called it the largest seizure ever in the capital; no arrests had been made.
Arrested 0Cannabis 7.1 tCustoms seize 8,700 kg of hashish on Italian trawler Santa Rita Terza
Spanish Customs boarded the Italian fishing vessel Santa Rita Terza about 138 miles south-east of Cartagena on the night of 24 January 2015 and seized about 8,700 kg of hashish resin in 292 bales, arresting its eight crew. The agency valued the haul at up to 13.6 million euros.
Arrested 8Cannabis 8.7 tSpanish customs seize 12 tonnes of hashish from Turkish trawler
Spanish customs intercepted the Turkish-flagged fishing vessel Berk Kaptan about 60 miles south of Almería with 480 bales of hashish, about 12 tonnes, hidden in its hold, arresting its four Turkish crew. The Operation Bosphorus boarding confirmed a new eastern Mediterranean trafficking route.
Arrested 4Cannabis 12 tFrench navy seizes 20 tons of cannabis aboard the Luna-S
The French navy intercepted the Tanzania-flagged Luna-S between Italy and Algeria and announced on 12 September 2013 a seizure of about 20 tons of cannabis, its biggest Mediterranean haul. The Syrian crew set much of the cargo on fire; about 10 tons were saved, the ship was towed to Toulon and eight crew members were detained.
Arrested 8Cannabis 10 tSpain and France seize 1,230 kg of hashish in Mediterranean operation
Spanish and French customs seized 1,230 kg of hashish in a joint air and naval operation in the Mediterranean on 29 and 30 April 2010. Seven people were arrested and two vessels seized, with the main haul of 1,200 kg taken 60 miles south of Cartagena.
Arrested 7Cannabis 1.23 tFrench customs seize 2.4 tonnes of cannabis resin near Hendaye
French customs officers seized 2.4 tonnes of cannabis resin from a Dutch-registered truck near Hendaye on the Spanish border on 26 February 2008. Customs put the resale value of the load at 4.96 million euros.
Cannabis 2.4 tFrench customs seize 1.5 tonnes of Moroccan cannabis at Channel Tunnel
French customs found 1.5 tonnes of Moroccan cannabis resin hidden among kitchen knives in a lorry at the Coquelles Channel Tunnel terminal on 28 July 2000, the largest haul yet at the terminal. Three French nationals were charged with drug trafficking over the seizure, valued by officials at 50 million francs.
Charged 3Cannabis 1.5 t