A civil fine of 50 million euros. This is the sanction taken on September 7 by the Court of Appeal of Antwerp, in Belgium, against the shipowner CMA-CGM, the leading French maritime carrier and owner in particular of Provencereports the newspaper Marianne. At issue: the discovery in 2018, by Belgian customs officers, of a smuggled cargo of 152 million cigarettes coming from Turkey. Without related import duties.
Traffic worth 42 million euros
According to The sailor, which recalls that a CMA CGM Turkey employee was immediately dismissed after being involved, the smuggling could have brought in a total of nearly 42 million euros. At first instance, before the Antwerp criminal court, the shipowner was not held liable. Seized by the Belgian State, the Court of Appeal decided otherwise.
Contacted by Marianne, Rodolphe Saadé’s group refused to make any comments “on court decisions which are the subject of an appeal”, condemning “with the greatest firmness all illegal practices”. The CMA CGM claims to apply “a zero tolerance policy towards the illegal activities of any employee or business partner”.