France Honors Andorra Police and Mayor for Dismantling €1M Tobacco Smuggling Ring

French authorities recognized the cooperation of Andorra's anti-fraud police unit and Mayor Azahara Cascales during a Tuesday ceremony in Prada de Conflent, marking the culmination of a joint operation that dismantled an international tobacco smuggling network operating between the Principality and France.

The probe, launched in April 2024 as Operation Aigua by Andorran police and customs in coordination with France's national gendarmerie, targeted weekly cross-border shipments of 500 to 1,000 cartons of cigarettes. Suspects transported goods at night using public facilities and a storage unit, with some deliveries carried on foot through challenging mountain routes by over 100 undocumented migrants exploited for the task.

Investigators identified a 37-year-old Andorran resident as the key delivery figure, supplied by a 64-year-old director of a tobacco distribution company. The firm issued fractionated invoices to a Pas de la Casa shop under scrutiny for money laundering, as it handled smuggling proceeds without bank deposits. The shop's 43-year-old owner was detained alongside the other two in February 2025.

That month also saw the arrest of a 20-year-old non-resident in Canillo, driving a French-registered vehicle with 6,250 packets of tobacco valued at around €24,500. In March 2025, two men aged 32 and 44 faced detention for tobacco supply; searches uncovered vehicles with hidden compartments, including one with a double bottom.

Raids across Andorra seized €70,000 in cash, electronic devices, documents, and five adapted vehicles. Police estimated the network distributed tobacco worth up to €1 million.

In France, interceptions continued, leading to a final joint push dubbed Operation Primera. In January 2026, authorities arrested a couple leading the ring from Perpignan, linking them to human trafficking through migrant exploitation. The effort resulted in 13 total arrests—six in Andorra and seven in France—with four key figures held in preventive detention. The network distributed cigarettes to nighttime outlets from Marseille to Toulouse.

This was the first joint judicial operation between Andorra and France via Eurojust, forming a team with Andorran police, Occitania's gendarmerie—including the GIR interministerial research group and Prada de Conflent brigade—and judicial officials.

The ceremony drew French judicial leaders and gendarmerie commanders, joined by Andorran Police Commissioner Major Frederic Gutiérrez, anti-fraud agents, Mayor Cascales, and judicial secretary Carme Múgica. Both nations hailed the coordination as a model against transnational organized crime.