Andorra

People

Concern has been raised over instances of forced labour in seasonal and domestic work industries; however, no data is available to confirm the existence of a human trafficking market in Andorra.

Andorra has low rates of human smuggling, as opposed to neighbouring Spain and France, where the market is significantly larger. Nevertheless, foreign actors have been prosecuted for their involvement in human smuggling, having sold Andorran resident permits to Chinese nationals then smuggled them through Andorra into France.

Trade

Arms trafficking occurs in Andorra but on a very small scale. Most cases typically involve weapons being smuggled from Andorra into France, as it is easier to acquire them in Andorra. There is no evidence of local violence caused by actors engaged in arms trafficking.

Environment

There is no developed criminal market for flora in Andorra – and no evidence of flora being brought illegally into or out of the country. Similarly, no significant criminal market for fauna exists in Andorra. While non-renewable resource crimes are not overly present in Andorra, the trafficking and laundering of precious metals and minerals does occur, albeit on a small scale. Jewellery is one of Andorra’s most significant commercial sectors, and several cases have been recorded of Andorran citizens being involved in the illicit trafficking of gold and diamonds. Additionally, illegally mined gold in France has allegedly been smuggled into Andorra and sold. The country was once considered a tax haven, which has probably increased the likelihood of the existence of money laundering schemes related to the trade in natural resources. Overall, evidence suggests that the criminal market for non-renewable resources in Andorra is limited. However, as gold and diamonds act as facilitating products for money laundering, there may be a larger market than realized.

Drugs

Illicit drug trafficking does not pose a substantive threat to Andorra as the local consumption of narcotics is low and drug traffickers in the region prefer more accessible routes through the ports of Perpignan and Biarritz in France and through ports in Spain. However, there are recorded cases of heroin being trafficked into Andorra, mainly involving loose criminal networks. Based on seizure statistics, it is likely that there is a larger market for cocaine than heroin. Most seizures, however, are from Spanish and French tourists, as well as from other non-residents who intend using the drug for personal consumption. Nevertheless, large quantities of cocaine destined for local markets have also been seized.

The local production of cannabis has increased in recent years, as have cannabis imports from neighbouring countries. Cannabis appears to be smuggled mostly from Spain and to a lesser extent from France, predominantly by criminal networks consisting mainly of Andorran residents. Trafficking routes reportedly go through official checkpoints and the mountainous terrain between borders. The synthetic drug market appears to be small, with sources close to the police reporting a decrease in synthetic drug use. Synthetic drugs are nevertheless trafficked into Andorra, coming primarily from Northern Europe in cocaine and cannabis shipments.

Criminal Actors

The most prominent criminal groups in Andorra appear to be made up of foreign criminal actors. Many foreign criminal actors are involved in money laundering in the country. In addition, criminal organizations from Russian-speaking countries and the Balkans are involved primarily in serial burglaries and damage to property. Groups of jewellery thieves from Serbia (the Pink Panthers) and China (the Pink Pandas) operate in Andorra as well. There have also been registered cases of human smuggling perpetrated by Chinese criminal organizations. The criminal networks operating in Andorra are market-specific and involved predominantly in the drug trade. Information suggests that there is cooperation between local criminal actors and foreign criminal networks (for example, networks operating in France).

State-embedded actors are not generally involved in transnational criminal activity, although there may be occasional cooperation between organized crime groups and officials in certain transactions. There is no information that any mafia-style groups operate in Andorra.

Leadership and governance

Although there is not much evidence of organized crime in Andorra, the country puts emphasis on developing and implementing prevention strategies. It has also committed to fighting drug trafficking and the selling of cannabis-related substances to underage youth. Andorra’s government has a system of checks and balances in place to prevent corruption. However, in 2015 the international community raised organized crime in Andorra as an issue when the Banca Privada d’Andorra (BPA) was implicated in money laundering on behalf of organized-crime groups. Transparency in the country is observed, with the government publishing its budget as well as information on the clearance of its accounts. In 2019 it put forward a law to promote transparency in public administration, but while the bill proposes that officials declare their assets upon taking and leaving public office, the provisions do not bind them to adhere to this measure.

Andorra generally complies with international standards in regard to fighting organized crime, and collaborates successfully with international institutions and mechanisms. Andorra has effective bilateral agreements, including cooperation protocols, with the Spanish police, and more effective cooperation protocols with France are in development. In regard to extradition, Andorra adheres to the European Convention on Extradition, drawn up in 1957 by the Council of Europe. Due to its history of money laundering and tax evasion, Andorra approved a law in 2017 which reinforced their criminalization. Because it has a low criminality rate, the country’s legal framework for organized crime appears sufficient.

Criminal justice and security

In the wake of the BPA scandal, the Andorran judiciary established a new unit to tackle organized crime. Even though effort has been put into equipping the judiciary to deal with issues of organized crime, the enforcement and implementation of preventive and suppressive measures is still lacking. According to reports, Andorra’s only prison meets international standards, provides adequate health services and satisfies all the basic needs of its prisoners. Andorra has a Criminal Police International Cooperation Department within its Police Corps, which encompasses INTERPOL’s National Central Bureau in the country. This unit focuses specifically on issues related to organized crime and shares intelligence with its partner countries. Additionally, Division III: Judicial Police and Criminal Investigation, a unit within the Directorate of the Police, has specialized sections on drug trafficking, money laundering and organized crime. While law enforcement measures have improved, the implementation of anti-crime measures is poor, especially insofar as money laundering offences are concerned. There are close relationships between the Andorran and Spanish authorities; however, Andorra’s relationship with the French police and customs agents is less developed, a situation that has resulted in more illicit cross-border activities, such as arms and cigarette trafficking. Nevertheless, the geographic and topographic features of the country along with the lack of an international airport and port deem it less vulnerable than other countries in the region.

Economic and financial environment

Andorra used to be considered a tax haven and has a history of large-scale money laundering operations permeating the legal economy. Following the BPA scandal, however, the regulatory and institutional framework was reformed to meet international standards. The country has a financial intelligence unit, which is dedicated to implementing legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorism financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Due to external pressures in the wake of the 2015 scandal, Andorra eased its bank-secrecy laws and now complies with international standards on economic regulation. The economic environment allows for the expansion of legitimate businesses, and regulations have been introduced with the intention of creating a modern, transparent and internationally comparable regulatory framework that will attract both foreign investors and legitimate businesses.

Civil society and social protection

There is a specialized service for victims of human trafficking in Andorra, even though no cases of trafficking have been reported. No information is available regarding witness protection programmes, but Andorra’s low organized crime rate suggests that these may not be a priority. There is an emphasis on prevention strategies aimed at tackling organized crime, the most substantial one being related to drug use prevention. There are also departments within the police force and the country’s mental health centre that focus respectively on prevention and social orientation, as well as on addiction treatments. Prevention strategies have also been implemented in relation to robbery, child abuse and cybercrime.

Andorran journalists and media houses are free to report on news related to organized crime without fear of prosecution or retaliation. Media outlets are reportedly dependent on political, business and religious interests, which heavily influence coverage. Conflicts of interest between these stakeholders, along with the level of difficulty associated with reporting on the activities of banks in the country, are among the biggest problems that journalists face.