€600,000 in gold found in UK car stopped at France-Swiss border

A UK-plated car carrying four gold bars and over 850 gold coins worth more than €600,000 was stopped by French customs officials on the Swiss border.

The vehicle was searched by officers from Saint-Louis on the A35 in the Haut-Rhin department, close to the crossing with the Swiss border.

The driver, in his fifties, explained he was driving from Switzerland to the UK but customs officials noticed he was hesitant to answer questions about what was in the vehicle.

He provided a bank statement showing he was travelling with valuable goods – including cash and precious metals – but the statement did not specify the amount.

Police searched the car, finding the four gold lingots each weighing 1kg, and 852 gold coins bearing the figures of former British Royals including George V, Edward VII, and Queens Victoria and Elizabeth II.

Both the driver and passenger were taken into custody but were later released, said Mulhouse public prosecutor Edwige Roux-Morizot.

Driver had not declared sum

They were taken into custody because despite the bank statement, they had not declared the goods when crossing into France.

You must declare cash (argent liquide) of more than €10,000 when crossing into the EU – in this case, gold is treated as cash.

The overall value of the gold in the car was €604,000.

Switzerland is not in the EU (although it is in the Schengen Zone), so goods must be declared when at the Franco-Swiss border.

Investigation opened

An investigation has been opened by the judiciaires des finances into the origin of the gold, and the assets have been seized from the driver.

Customs officials seized over €80 million in 2022 for non declared goods and money laundering.

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