Internet squad for customs officers
Team will crackdown on illegal goods like cigarettes, medicines and counterfeit brands bought online.
FRENCH customs officers to get a special team dedicated to seizing illegal goods bought online.
Fifteen agents will be employed in the new “Cyberdouane” team which will be launched officially today by Budget Minister Eric Woerth.
Mr Woerth told Metro newspaper: “On the web, the risk of fraud has grown.”
“The turn over for e-commerce has passed the €20 billion mark.
“With the development of the internet, the methods of criminals have changed and they are cashing in on the volatility of these sites. The pseudonyms, the free access, the sense of impunity online exacerbate the risk of fraud.
“People, attracted by the prices on certain sites, are buying more and more without knowing if the products conform to safety requirements or are dangerous.”
In 2008 customs officers seized 148,000 items and 21 tonnes of cigarettes from packages bought from abroad.
Many of the goods are intercepted at the sorting centre at Charles de Gaulle. Here, officers target packages from drug producing countries such as Columbia, Venezuela, India for medicines, China for counterfeit goods and South Africa for cigarettes.
Since the beginning of February 900kg of counterfeit cigarettes have been confiscated.
