Emmanuel Akosile | ConsumerConnect

Regarded as the largest seizure since the country banned the resale of masks to prioritise their distribution to health workers, the French Police have confiscated 140,000 nose masks intended for the black market in a record haul since outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic.

It is the largest seizure since the French Government banned the resale of protective masks to prioritise their distribution to health workers in the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic.

AFP reports a police source revealed that two individuals were arrested while they were unloading boxes in Saint-Denis, just north of Paris Sunday, April 26.

Report stated that one of the black marketer said he was a business owner and had bought the masks, including 5,000 high protection FFP2 masks, in the Netherlands for a total of 80,000 Euros ($87,000).

The masks were to be sold to construction workers for a large profit, according to Police.

In March 2020, 32,500 masks from China were seized from a warehouse near Paris and 28,800 masks were discovered in a shop in a district of Chinese wholesalers, also in the Paris region.