Police forces in France reported that they have seized about 140,000 face masks destined for sale on the black market after they caught a businessman unloading the masks from a truck into a house in Saint Denis, France. Among the confiscated stock include about 5,000 FFP2 masks, surgical masks, and KN-95 masks.

The suspects include a 60 year-old man who reportedly bought the masks for €0.50 (About 54 United States cents) each in the Netherlands, and was attempting to sell them for between €0.55-€0.60 (60-65 United States cents), alongside a 46 year-old who was attempting to purchase the masks from the former to resell.

Last month, France requisitioned all supplies and production of face masks to equip health workers and other essential workers. The price of masks in France tripled shortly before the requisition.

Today, France has about 124,000 confirmed cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus alongside over 22,000 Covid-19-related deaths. So far, just under 45,000 people have recovered.  

Note: The first photo of the masks is a photo taken by myself while the other 2 images were retrieved from the public domain, and hence do not need attribution any other citation for any purposes, even commercial use.