Tours court sentences Bulgarian driver over 513 kg of hashish at Monnaie toll
Tours criminal court on 29 September 2025 gave a 53-year-old Bulgarian haulier a one-year suspended prison term, a five-year French entry ban and an 80,000 euro customs fine after customs seized 513 kg of cannabis resin from his lorry at the Monnaie toll on 25 September.
🇫🇷 Monnaie toll, A10 motorway · France
- Charged
- 1
- Cannabis
- 513 kg
- Prison
- 1 year
- Fine
- EUR 80,000
On 25 September 2025 customs officers at the Monnaie toll on the A10 stopped a Bulgarian driver’s
articulated lorry travelling from Málaga toward Nottingham, alerted by a strong smell from the
trailer.[1][2] They found 513 kg of cannabis resin in 78 brown packages hidden among seven pallets
that also held disposable e-cigarette dispensers.[1]
The 53-year-old, with no prior record according to ICI, denied knowing about the drugs and said two
Spaniards had loaded the pallets in Málaga.[1][2] Tours criminal court convicted him in immediate
hearing on 29 September 2025, sentencing him to twelve months in prison with suspension, a five-year
ban on entering France and an 80,000 euro customs fine.[1][2]
Sources
- Plus de 500 kg de cannabis saisis par les douaniers au péage de Monnaie en Indre-et-Loire. La Nouvelle République, 29 September 2025. In French.
- Tours : un chauffeur routier qui transportait plus de 500 kilos de cannabis condamné. ICI, 29 September 2025. In French.
Open questions the AI reported
- Ouest-France rounded the weight to more than 500 kg while La Nouvelle République and ICI gave 513 kg exactly.
- The driver's name was not published in the free portions of the regional press accounts opened.
- Destruction or further proceedings over the seized resin were not described.