Police have dismantled Europe’s largest counterfeit perfume factory in Spain. Authorities seized over 1.2 million fake products with an estimated market value of €94 million (£79 million).
The Catalan police force (Mossos d’Esquadra), the Spanish Tax Agency’s Customs Surveillance Service, and French Customs conducted the operation as a joint effort. They targeted a sophisticated criminal network operating in the Selva region of Catalonia.
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A Multi-Million Euro Operation
The scale of the operation was staggering. During raids on several industrial warehouses, officers confiscated 1.2 million bottles of counterfeit perfume. These imitated around 50 well-known luxury brands. Had these products been sold at original market prices, their total value would have exceeded €94 million.
Police arrested seven individuals. Additionally, a further eleven are under formal investigation for crimes including membership of a criminal organisation, smuggling, and industrial property violations.
Industrial-Scale Production
The criminal ring operated a fully equipped production plant disguised as a wholesale perfumery business. Located in Fogars de la Selva, the facility was far from a small backroom operation. It featured two interconnected warehouses housing seven distinct production lines. These lines had a potential capacity to manufacture more than four million bottles annually.
Inside, agents found specialised machinery for every stage of production. This included seven bottling machines, three capping stations, and dedicated areas for packaging, cellophane wrapping, and box printing. The site also held 150,000 litres of raw mixture ready for processing.
Nearby, a secondary warehouse served as a showroom. It displayed over 50 counterfeit brand models to prospective buyers. Moreover, the ring used a third site in Sant Feliu de Buixalleu for chemical storage. It contained bulk drums of aromatic elixirs and huge tanks of denatured alcohol.
Cross-Border Investigation
The investigation began in October 2025 following a tip-off from French authorities. French Customs had intercepted a shipment of 2,600 counterfeit perfume bottles marked “très fragile” (very fragile). They traced these back to Girona, Spain.
Surveillance revealed that vans with Romanian number plates were regularly transporting goods from the Catalan warehouses across the border into France and the wider European market. Consequently, a breakthrough came on 27 January. French officers intercepted a vehicle carrying nearly 7,000 illicit bottles. This prompted the immediate raid of the Spanish facilities.
Separately, Mossos d’Esquadra officers intercepted logistical trucks in the Cerdanya region. These trucks carried 10,000 fake perfumes with incoherent delivery paperwork. This trail led them to another logistical hub in Arbúcies. There, authorities stored a further 350,000 bottles ready for distribution.
The Court of Instruction in Arenys de Mar leads the judicial investigation. Authorities have stated that the investigation remains open. However, they have not ruled out further arrests, despite reports that Barcelona crime rates fell by 6.1% in 2025.
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