“No, I didn’t know that the vehicle they lent me contained drugs. I didn’t know either that it was subject to customs surveillance from Narbonne. I think the drugs that were found in the minibus were hidden by someone who had the spare keys. “ Presented in immediate appearance Wednesday August 3, at the judicial court of Thionville, this Lithuanian national aged about fifty years must answer for transport and possession of narcotics. Or 30 kg of herbal cannabis and 450 g of resin, carefully concealed in a hatch hidden under the floor of the minibus he was driving. Customs officers intercepted it on July 30 on the A31, near La Maxe, north of Metz, in the Nancy-Luxembourg direction.
To the investigators and to the judges, the defendant assured that he had to go to Eastern Europe with a load of donations intended for Ukraine. The canine team never got hold of these boxes containing, in particular, diapers. Above all, it uncovered the drug packaged in heat-sealed and scented bags to deceive the customs dog’s flair. Value of the goods estimated by the Customs administration: almost €150,000.
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Customs surveillance of the vehicle
During the hearing, President Fabien Son noted several disturbing details which did not move the driver of the mini-bus. The fact that the Nissan Primasatar was subject to customs surveillance launched from Narbonne, that the respondent was involved in narcotics cases in Spain, and that his name was listed in the Schengen information system, used in particular by European police. “All of this, I did not know,” he told the court through the voice of his interpreter.
Sigitas Kreismantas will have to serve a three-year prison sentence with a one-year suspended sentence, with continued detention. He will have to pay a customs fine of €127,200. All seals (drugs and vehicle) were confiscated. Finally, the fifties will no longer have to set foot on French soil. And that, permanently.
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