French authorities seized more than €1.4 billion in criminal assets in 2025, a jump of 11% from the previous year, underscoring both the scale of organized crime and the expanding role of the agency tasked with stripping criminals of their wealth. Figures released by AGRASC, the agency that manages and recovers these seized and confiscated assets, show that €212 million was ultimately confiscated. Of that sum, €145 million went into the state’s general budget, €47 million to the interministerial body in charge of tackling drugs and addictive behavior, and €27 million to victim compensation funds – a 144% surge compared with 2024.
The results do not only reflect the growing clout of AGRASC, created in 2011 to manage and sell assets seized during criminal investigations. They also highlight the financial firepower of offenders and the “essential role” the agency now plays against organized crime, which Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin has described as “a major threat to [France’s] national security.” On Thursday, January 29, a day after visiting AGRASC’s new headquarters, Darmanin called for a “deep modernization and a ramping up of our judicial and administrative tools.”
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