• Breton customs officers got their hands on 192 kilos of narcotics last year, including 27.6 kilos of heroin seized during a road check in January 2022 at a rest area near Rennes.
  • As everywhere in the country, contraband tobacco trafficking is on the rise in Brittany, where 711 kilos were seized, compared to 500 kilos in 2021.
  • Customs officers also caught protected Polynesian corals that were sold on the Internet and 152 ivory objects seized from an antique salon.

They brought back several hundred kilos of illicit or counterfeit products in their nets. Last year, fishing was good for the 270 Breton customs officers. While Brittany is not known to be the epicenter of drug trafficking, 192 kilos of narcotics were seized in 2022 in the region, a 65% increase in value of seizures compared to last year. On January 26, 2022, during a check at a rest area near Rennes, the officers had found 27.6 kg of heroin hidden in a car.

In full explosion throughout the territory, the trafficking of contraband tobacco also strongly mobilized Breton customs officers last year with the seizure of 711 kg, against about 500 kg in 2021. "Cigarette trafficking is starting to resemble drug trafficking," says Yves Bourlieux, regional director of Brittany's customs. Contraband tobacco is now available for sale on social networks, for example. On November 14, the agents of the Brest customs brigade had won the jackpot by discovering 550 cartridges aboard a vehicle in Landivisiau.

Protected Polynesian corals for sale on the Internet

In addition to narcotics and tobacco, customs officials also discovered more unexpected things last year such as 152 ivory objects seized from an antique fair on November 14. The two sellers who exhibited them had not been able to indicate the origin of their objects whose sale is highly regulated.


Ten days ago, twelve Polynesian corals were finally handed over to the Océanopolis center in Brest. Offered for sale on Le Bon Coin and Ebay, these protected species were discovered in February at a retiree who had brought them back after tourist stays. The seller said at the time that he was not aware that it was forbidden to sell these species protected by the CITES Convention, known as the Washington Convention.

  • Customs
  • Smuggling
  • Counterfeit
  • Seizure
  • Traffic
  • Drug trafficking
  • Tobacco
  • Cigarette
  • Narcotic
  • Rennes
  • Brittany
  • Society