Perpignan court jails truck driver for four years over 495 kg of hashish
Customs at the Le Boulou toll on the A9 found 495 kg of cannabis resin hidden in a Spanish-plated refrigerated trailer declared as food, bound for Italy. On 5 August 2026 the Perpignan court gave the driver four years in prison with remand, a permanent ban from French territory and a €991,750 customs fine; customs valued the resin at nearly €4 million.
🇫🇷 Le Boulou toll (A9); sentenced at Perpignan · France
- Cannabis
- 495 kg
- Prison
- 4 years
- Fine
- EUR 991,750
- Value (official estimate)
- EUR 4,000,000
At the Le Boulou toll barrier on the A9 (Spain to France), the Perthus inland surveillance brigade of
customs stopped a Spanish-plated heavy goods set after a drugs dog marked the outside of the truck.[1][2]
Inside a refrigerated trailer declared for food, officers found cartons of cannabis resin hidden in
pallet doors and elsewhere in the trailer.[1][2]
The resin weighed 495 kilograms; customs estimated its illicit resale value at nearly four million
euros.[1][2] The driver, who said he was bound for Italy, was held by customs then handed to OFAST
in Perpignan.[1][2]
On 5 August 2026 the Perpignan criminal court, in an immediate appearance, sentenced him to four
years in prison with remand, a permanent ban from French territory and a customs fine of
€991,750.[1][2]
Sources
- Les douaniers saisissent 495 kilos de résine de cannabis, déclarés comme denrées alimentaires, le conducteur condamné à 4 ans de prison et plus de 900.000 euros d'amende. France 3 Occitanie, 7 August 2026. In French.
- Près de Perpignan, 495 kg de résine de cannabis découverts dans un camion frigorifique sur l'A9. L'Indépendant, 7 August 2026. In French.
Open questions the AI reported
- The driver's name and nationality were not published beyond the Spanish registration of the truck.
- France 3's image caption dates the find 4 August 2026; the body only says the control was in the days before the 7 August release.
