An assessment of legal measures to trace, freeze and confiscate the proceeds of drug crimes in France: the Customs viewpoint.

Well-organized drug traffickers and their associates use sophisticated methods, such as banking transactions, to conceal their illegally acquired assets under the cloak of quasi-legitimate operations. The Customs Code contains provisions that govern French Customs officials in their fight against drug crimes and the proceeds of such crimes. In any customs offence relating to illicit drugs, legal action is directed against all those associated with the offence. When convincing information is received on drug trafficking and the proceeds derived from it, customs officials are authorized, in conjunction with the police, to make house searches anywhere in the country, even if no court procedure has been initiated. The confiscation of property derived from drug crimes can be ordered only by a court of law. Once sentence has been pronounced, any illegally acquired property that has been seized is confiscated. The Customs check all financial movements, searching for any exchange infractions, and banking secrecy is not allowed to obstruct the performance of this function. Although legal provisions in France have proved effective, the results obtained in respect of confiscation of the proceeds of drug crimes have generally been limited. Insufficient international co-operation seems to a certain extent to account for this unsatisfactory situation and the author pleads for more effective co-operation between Governments in tracing and securing the confiscation of property derived from drug trafficking.