French Officials Honor Andorran Police and Mayor for Busting €1M Tobacco Smuggling Ring

**French authorities honour Andorran police and mayor for dismantling major tobacco smuggling ring**

French officials recognised the Anti-Fraud Group of Andorra's police force and Mayor Azahara Cascales on Tuesday at an event in Prada de Conflent for their collaboration in a joint operation against international tobacco smuggling. The ceremony included judicial representatives and Gendarmerie commanders from Occitanie, alongside Andorran participants such as Police Commissioner Major Frederic Gutiérrez, head of the Borders and Immigration Area, Anti-Fraud Group officers, and judicial secretary Carme Múgica.

Known as Operation Aigua in Andorra, the probe began in April 2024 with surveillance by Andorran police and customs on vehicles leaving for France loaded with large tobacco quantities. Investigators identified a 37-year-old Andorran resident who allegedly delivered around 500 cartons weekly at night, using public facilities and a storage unit.

The inquiry expanded under judicial oversight with French involvement, uncovering a tobacco distributor company where a 64-year-old director purportedly supplied the resident. Factored invoices linked to a Pas de la Casa shop under money laundering scrutiny went to its 43-year-old owner, who could not make bank deposits. In February 2025, police arrested these three during a coordinated action. The same operation in Canillo led customs agents to detain a 20-year-old non-resident in a French-registered vehicle carrying 6,250 tobacco packets worth nearly 24,480 euros.

Searches of the shop, distributor, and detainees' homes yielded 70,000 euros in cash, electronic devices, documents, and five vehicles. In March 2025, two more men aged 32 and 44 were arrested on judicial orders for alleged tobacco supply roles; one home search found a vehicle with a false bottom and another car was seized.

French actions intercepted convoys, culminating in January 2026 with the arrest of a couple leading the network in a joint operation dubbed Prima by French forces. The pair faced human trafficking charges for using undocumented migrants to transport goods.

Police experts estimate the network moved tobacco worth one million euros overall. This marked Andorra and France's first joint judicial operation via Eurojust, forming an investigation team with France's GIR and Prada de Conflent Brigade under the 2000 Palermo Convention.

Both sides praised the coordination as a model for future cross-border efforts against organised crime.