3 unusual catches of the French customs

If there's one job where you can see something completely unusual, it's the job of a customs officer. Every working day must be like Christmas morning, you are almost sure to come across a suspicious package at some point, but you just don't know what you will find inside. In this article, we're going to talk about some of the most unusual catches made by French customs officers and I'd rather warn you, you won't believe what people are willing to carry illegally.

23 tons of cannabis

Source photo: en.rt

We start "light" with a classic, the seizure of cannabis. While it is very common to seize cannabis and its by-products during maritime, air or road customs checks, it is very rare to make such a big catch as this. This is the current record for French customs services, found in the port of Boulogne-sur-mer in 1999, these 23 tonnes of cannabis represent no less than 160 million euros worth of goods after resale, if not more.

If you ever find yourself in the same situation, I hope you have a good customs control lawyer to help you, otherwise it's a safe bet that you'll never be able to pay back your fine or see the outside world again. 

Fur coats from dogs and cats

Photo source: A love cow

Here we get to the heart of the matter with this seizure that will send a chill down the spine of many of you. The customs services have already found a rather morbid shipment for us Europeans, as they have seized more than 4000 jackets made from dog and cat fur. Straight from Asia, a region of the world where these animals can be used as food, it seems normal not to throw away their fur and to use it to make clothes. However, in France, as in many countries, the sale of dog and cat fur is prohibited.

Hummingbirds

Source photo : lepoint.fr

We continue and end with animals, and here again, human stupidity surprises us. At the airport, a young man was arrested by customs officers because they suspected him of being a drug courier, but the reality was quite different. The young men were given various tests and were convinced that he was hiding something in his underwear. After checking, it turned out that the young man was hiding 12 dead hummingbirds in his underwear. It is not clear what the motive behind this act was, probably the resale of rare species.