Not only do motorists going on holiday today (Saturday) face long delays on one of the busiest days, but police warn of crooks on motorways posing as gendarmes or police targeting foreign registered cars and stopping them ostensibly to search for drugs, then stealing valuables.
The genuine police give this advice:
* Patrols are always in marked cars with officers in full uniform.
* They never stop cars on the open road, but lead them to safe, lit aires or services
* They may ask for papers but will not ask you to hand over bags
* They will only carry out searches in your presence.
The gangs so far identified target foreign cars hoping to exploit the occupants' ignorance and probably to mask the fact that their French is not 100%.
Take care, if a tattooed "gendarme" in an unmarked car, sporting an armband or hi-vis jacket and speaking English with a Balkan accent asks you to let him search your hand bag for drugs, he is probably going to steal it.
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