French Customs Seize 117kg Tobacco at 2300m in Pyrenees
Officers in Pyrénées-Orientales recovered smuggled tobacco hidden under snow near Andorra border in one of the region's highest-altitude busts.
Key Points
- 117kg tobacco seized at 2,300m altitude near Pas de la Casa on French soil.
- Hidden in 10 bundles under heavy snow, intended for foot transport via Andorran paths.
- Snowshoes used in follow-up op by Bourg-Madame and Porta teams; no arrests.
- Part of ongoing crackdown on high-mountain cross-border smuggling from Andorra.
French customs officers in the Pyrénées-Orientales seized 117 kilograms of tobacco smuggled from Andorra last Sunday, hidden at 2,300 metres altitude near Pas de la Casa on French soil.
The Perpignan Regional Customs Directorate described the bust as one of the highest-altitude seizures in the region. Teams from Bourg-Madame and Porta conducted prolonged surveillance in the mountainous border area before pinpointing a smugglers' cache. The tobacco had been divided into about ten bundles, ready for foot transport along Andorran hiking paths to evade customs controls.
Intense snow buildup required a follow-up operation, with agents donning snowshoes to access the site. They discovered the contraband buried beneath a heavy snow layer—likely purchased in Andorra for illegal sale in France. Officers recovered the goods and brought them to a customs post, with no arrests announced.
French authorities have committed to ongoing efforts to combat such cross-border smuggling in the high mountains.
Original Sources
This article was aggregated from the following Catalan-language sources: