Further to our recent post on the seizure of the shadow fleet tanker, the Tagor, it has now been announced that that the vessel’s captain was arrested on 2 June, and was released from detention yesterday.
The captain has not been charged but investigations are ongoing. The prosecutor’s in the town of Brest is reported to have said the captain may face a custodial sentence of up to a year.
French President Macron has announced the seizure yesterday of the tanker the Tagor in the Atlantic. The British Royal Navy provided support.
It is reported that the vessel was en route from Murmansk, and so was presumably carrying cargo.
The vessel was in international waters some 400 nautical miles west of France, and is suspected of sailing under a false flag.
We have updated our Vessel Seizure tracker – here.
Collating the outcomes published in the weekly reports by Estonia’s Tax and Customs Board (see our earlier post for the period from 14 October 2025 to 13 January 2026), reveals the following data:
The weekly reports give details of many other prevented exports and imports where no further action was taken for first time offenders.
It is being reported (here and here) that the Polish authorities have arrested and imposed bail and travel restrictions on several members of a ring suspected of exports of sanctioned goods to Belarus.
Also arrested, and a search conducted at her house, was a Polish Customs official who is alleged to have taken bribes in return for allowing goods to be exported without inspections.
The exporters are said to have used two sets of paperwork, with Polish Customs shown export documents for food and beverage products, and Belarusian customs shown accurate paperwork for the sanctioned spare parts and other engineering products.
The exports are said to have taken placed between June 2025 and April 2026 using the Kukuryki-Kazlovichy border crossing.
On Friday the trail commenced of two brothers suspected of their role in 65 exports to Russia in the mechanical engineering sector said to be valued at c. €833,000.
The brothers were each managing directors of the exporting company.
A separate prosecution is underway against the father.
The exports to Russia were, it is alleged, masked through exports to shell companies in Turkey and Kyrgyzstan.
It has been reported that the Lithuanian authorities have arrested a Polish national on suspicion of trying to export to Belarus the equivalent of €60,000 in physical currency in Polish zlotys and US dollars.
The man was attempting to climb over a border fence when he was detected.
Further to our earlier post, Finnish Customs has issued a press release relating to the conclusion of an investigation, that is now being forwarded to the Prosecution District of Eastern Finland for criminal prosecution.
The investigation alleges the prohibited export of 135 trucks and 29 trailers to Russia in breach of the EU’s sanctions. The vehicles are said to be valued at €17.5 million.
The Finnish exporting company declared that the exports were bound for Kazakhstan and Turkey via Russia, but the investigation showed the vehicle remained in Russia.
The same press release gives updated statistics on Finnish Customs’ recent enforcement activity with 58 cases between the start of 2025 and March 2026.
In 2025 the following offences (which are of differing levels of severity) were registered:
Between January and March 2026 Customs registered the following:
Further to our earlier post from March regarding Sweden’s seizure of the Sea Owl I, Sweden’s Coast Guard has issued an update.
At the time of the seizure the flag was purporting to be Comorian flagged, but the Swedish authorities doubted the validity of that registration.
Following the seizure the vessel purported to re-register with another flag state. The Coast Guard’s update is reporting that a second crew member has now been arrested on suspicion of using false documents relating to the purported re-registration of the vessel.
The Swedish Security Service has issued a press release confirming raids on multiple residential properties in southern and western Sweden, as well as the arrest of two individuals suspected of gross violations of the EU’s sanctions against Russia.
The breaches are said to relate to the “procurement of advanced products on behalf of Russia” but no further detail has been provided at this stage.
A few weeks ago, Latvia’s Customs Service published data on its sanctions enforcement actions for the first quarter of 2026.
This includes:
