Bank notes worth €2 million found in luggage at Paris airport
Travellers claimed to be textile merchants but had failed to declare the cash
Two men were detained by security forces
Jose Miguel Sanchez/Shutterstock
Customs officers in Paris have seized a record €2.4 million from two travellers who had failed to declare it when entering the country.
The money was found in the luggage of the men travelling from Algeria to Turkey via Paris Charles de Gaulle airport on Sunday (August 18).
The men were detained by security forces in Terminal 2 of the airport, on the suspicion of money laundering and for failure to declare the cash to customs officials.
The men, aged 32 and 39, claimed to be textile merchants travelling to Turkey to do business.
The money, which was in Swiss Francs, amounted to CHF2.2 million, or around €2.4 million.
It was subsequently confiscated by customs, and is the largest amount of cash ever taken in such an operation.
In 2021, a traveller also going to Turkey was stopped with €500,000 in their luggage, which was also seized.
An investigation is underway, led by the local prosecutor’s office in Bobigny, Seine-Saint-Denis, the department where the airport is located.
Anyone crossing the French border must declare to customs if carrying cash or gold etc with a value in excess of €10,000, or its equivalent in other currencies.
This applies to travellers on planes, as well as ferries and roads.
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