The defendant appears on the stand as support of the Armenian army. Thus he justifies the tobacco trafficking of which he is accused by the court of Thionville. His line of defense is not trivial. He takes it out of his custody on 5 May 2021. He was checked by customs on the A30, near Fameck, driving a Ford that day. He comes from Luxembourg. His car contains 66 kg of rolling tobacco, of well-known brands, contained in 350 cans. He heads to Marseilles where a truck is waiting for him. According to him, the convoy is supposed to deliver various basic necessities, such as medicines, to Armenian soldiers in the midst of an armed conflict with Azerbaijan.
“The tobacco was not purchased for commercial purposes,” insists the defendant’s lawyer. The man, 62, is Armenian. He lives in Woippy and receives a modest disability pension. His lawyer provides a whole list of donors, members of the Armenian community in France, who allegedly financed the purchase of tobacco for the soldiers.
Customs penalties and taxes
“Of course, tobacco costs less in Luxembourg, but it is certainly cheaper elsewhere, in a country closer to Armenia…”, suggests the president of the court. The defendant will have difficulty answering. He will plead for the possibility for him to go to Luxembourg. He will also try to explain that there is no rolling tobacco in a can in his country.
The court finds that this alleged humanitarian trip had a financial purpose. He sentences the 60-year-old to a suspended fine of 1,000 euros. He confirms the customs request and inflicts 3,000 euros in customs fines (or 1,000 euros for an ascertained violation), in addition to 19,900 euros corresponding to the amount of French taxes and duties from which he freed himself by purchasing the 66 kg of tobacco in Luxembourg. The assets were seized for destruction.
