Luxury watches, sports cars, designer handbags and branded clothing went under the hammer at an auction in Paris on Tuesday (April 25).
There is nothing unusual about that until you learn the goods were all confiscated from people suspected or convicted of drug trafficking.
Among the lots were 25 luxury vehicles, including a Lamborghini starting at €160,000, as well as motorbikes, quadbikes, and push bikes.
There were also Rolex watches listed at €8,000 each, Louis Vuitton handbags, video game consoles, Louboutin shoes, gold jewellery, and Dior pyjamas.
The total listing prices in Paris equalled €700,000. However, other more expensive goods, including yachts and cars, are set to be sold at a later date, overseas.
Profits from the auction will go to the government’s drug addiction agency la mission interministérielle de lutte contre les drogues et les conduites addictives (MIDELCA).
The auction included 277 lots of goods seized by law enforcement services, said the auction’s organiser, the confiscated goods agency l'Agence de gestion et de recouvrement des avoirs saisis et confisqués (AGRASC) and the direction nationale d'interventions domaniale (DNID).
The auction took place in the vast and historical ‘grand procès’ room at the Paris court of appeal, in the presence of France’s justice minister, Eric Dupond-Moretti.
In a statement, AGRASC said: “The organisation of this event is intended to communicate to the general public that 'crime does not pay'. It is particularly symbolic as it is held in a unique and historic place, which has embodied the centre of judicial and financial power since the Middle Ages.”
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