Article 706-153 of the French Code of Criminal Procedure
During the investigation in flagrante delicto or the preliminary investigation, the liberty and custody judge, at the request of the public prosecutor, may order by reasoned decision the seizure, at the advanced expense of the Treasury, of the property or intangible rights the confiscation of which is provided for by the article 131-21 of the Penal Code. The examining magistrate may, in the course of the investigation, order this seizure…