EU operation hits €5m illegal pesticide ring

Law enforcement from France and Spain, supported by Europol, have arrested 29 members of a criminal organisation for selling illegal plant protection products.

The investigation has found that the gang had sold 25 tonnes of illegal pesticides, mainly in France, with the authorities estimating that the suspects earned more than €5m ($5.5m) from their illicit activities. 26 tonnes of the suspect pesticides were seized in the operation – which ran between June 2024 and January 2025 – with 14 bank accounts frozen and criminal assets worth €350,000 frozen.

Counterfeit pesticides contain chemicals that are either banned or restricted in the EU due to the potential risks they may pose and are not authorised for sale by authorities. Along with environmental damage and potential harm to consumers, they can lead to crop failures and sometimes contain toxic or flammable ingredients that can make even transport unsafe.

The members of the gang are accused of being involved in environmental crime, money laundering and document fraud. According to Europol, they exploited business structures and coordinated a supply chain for illegal plant protection products based in Italy, Portugal and Spain from 2020 onwards.

Europol's experts on environmental crime supported the investigation by providing analytical support and coordinating and facilitating the exchange of information between national authorities.

"The investigation revealed a new criminal trend based on the use of coordinated structures and illicit supply chains to distribute unauthorised products, either because they have expired, are unregistered or lack the necessary authorisation," according to the enforcement agency, which reckons that more than 85% of criminal organisations exploit legal businesses to transport illicit goods, expand their influence and, as in this case, launder the proceeds of crime.

"The suspects used falsified documents to introduce these illegal products into the market, often disguising them as fertilizers or motor oils to avoid detection. They also camouflaged containers of illegal products and used foreign banks for transactions to make their operations more difficult to trace."

You can see more about the operation in the video below: