Arrested in Perpignan: the Spanish border and the corridor
Perpignan is the last French city before the Spanish border and sits on the corridor carrying road and rail traffic between the Iberian peninsula and the rest of Europe, so almost every case here involves a crossing. Customs checks on vehicles and freight, narcotics moving north, cash declaration obligations that aggregate the sums carried by members of the same party, and goods bought in Andorra, which lies outside the customs union of the European Union, make up most of the caseload alongside the resort matters of the coast in season.
Corridor cases share a feature that decides them: the person stopped is a driver or a passenger with no connection to France, and the contents of a vehicle have to be attributed to somebody. Since no interview may begin without a lawyer present, the hours before questioning are the ones in which the consignment papers, loading records and messages that separate you from the load can still be found.
Avv. Massimo Romano — Ordine degli Avvocati di Napoli n. 14553, patrocinante in Cassazione dal 23/10/2015 — Roma, Via Avicenna 97, 00146 · Milano, Via Giuseppe Pecchio 3, 20129 · Napoli, Corso Umberto I 237, 80138 — +39 335 669 3954
In brief
- Stops on the corridor are aimed at vehicles and freight rather than at named suspects, which is why the person in the cell is often a driver who knows nothing about the paperwork.
- Attribution is the whole question in a load case: being in the cab is not the same as knowing what was behind it, and documents are what mark the difference.
- Cash carried across the border must be declared above the threshold, and sums held separately by people travelling together are added up as a party.
- The freight market here is among the largest in Europe for fresh produce, and it generates customs, labour and regulatory proceedings alongside the criminal ones.
- Andorra sits outside the customs union, so allowances apply when entering France and exceeding them is treated as a customs offence rather than a shopping mistake.
- Police custody can be extended once by the prosecutor in a written decision giving reasons, and longer where organised crime is alleged.
- France has no bail, so at the end of custody the magistrate decides between release, judicial supervision with obligations, and detention.
- What is said at the roadside about the route, the cargo and the purpose of the journey tends to be recorded and then held against later explanations, which is why the account should be given with counsel present.
What actually happens here
- The border and the corridor: customs checks on vehicles and freight, and narcotics moving north from Spain and Morocco.
- Cash. Declaration obligations apply on the crossing, and sums carried by members of the same party are aggregated.
- The freight market, one of the largest in Europe for fresh produce, which generates customs, labour and regulatory proceedings.
- Andorra, close by and outside the EU customs union, producing tobacco and goods cases of its own.
- Nightlife and the coast in season, with the ordinary resort caseload.
Corridor cases have a recurring feature: the person is a driver or a passenger with no connection to France, stopped with a vehicle whose contents have to be attributed to someone. The Spanish end of the same route is in the guide for Spain.
The French clock, in short
Police custody in Perpignan runs for 24 hours, extendable once by the prosecutor to 48, in writing and with reasons. France has no bail: the magistrate decides between release, judicial supervision and detention. The full framework is in the guide for France.
Where the journey began changes the customs position completely, and travellers routinely assume that everything inside Europe works the same way. It does not.
| Origin of the goods | Customs position on entering France | Consequence if exceeded |
|---|---|---|
| Another member state of the Union | Goods move freely, subject to limits on excise products | Quantities beyond personal use are treated as commercial |
| Andorra | Outside the customs union, so allowances apply on entry | Exceeding them is a customs offence, not an administrative slip |
| Morocco or further afield | Full customs control, with narcotics a declared priority | Seizure, detention and a criminal file |
| Cash, from anywhere | Declaration required above the threshold | Non-declaration can lead to seizure of the whole sum |
| Commercial freight | Documented regime, checked against the load | A mismatch between papers and cargo opens the attribution question |
Frequently asked questions
Something was found in the lorry.
Attribution must be established. Consignment documents, loading records and communications are what connect or separate a driver from the load.
Do I have to declare cash at the border?
Yes above the threshold, and sums carried by members of the same party are aggregated.
How long can they hold me?
Twenty-four hours, extendable once to forty-eight, and up to ninety-six where organised crime is alleged.
I bought goods in Andorra.
Andorra is outside the EU customs union, so allowances apply on entering France and exceeding them is a customs offence.
If this is happening now
In France no interview may begin without a lawyer present, so the hours before it are the ones that count. First contact is free and covered by professional privilege, at any hour.
The decisions that are put to you at a border
An arrest in Perpignan almost always involves a crossing, and the choices that follow are shaped by it. Three come early.
Whether to explain the journey. If you were stopped with goods, cash or a vehicle, officers will ask where you came from, where you were going, who asked you to go and what you were carrying. The honest answer feels easy to give. But an account given in French, tired, without the papers in front of you and without a lawyer, can be written in a way that fixes details you were not sure of. Asking to wait for a lawyer and an interpreter costs time and some goodwill. A rushed account costs you the ability to correct it.
Whether to say who owns what. Cash, parcels and goods in a vehicle with several people prompt a question that sounds simple: whose is this? Cash carried by members of the same party is aggregated, so an answer given to be helpful can attach another person's money to you. Do not guess. Say that you will answer with your lawyer.
Whether to accept a duty lawyer or call your own. A duty lawyer attends and may be fine for the night. Your own lawyer knows the Italian side, can coordinate with a colleague on the French side of the border and can explain consequences that matter to you, such as your job, your licence or your status. Choosing takes time, so decide quickly and tell the officers.
Whom to call. Passengers with differing interests should not agree on a version. Give the family three facts: you are held, where, and who is helping.
If a document is put before you, do not sign what you cannot read.
In a lorry or van case the defence is built from documents held by other people. Each of them says something specific about what the driver knew.
| Document | Who holds it | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| Consignment note | Sender, haulier and consignee | What the load was declared to be and who declared it |
| Loading records | Warehouse or terminal operator | Who had access to the vehicle and when it was sealed |
| Driving and route records | The transport company and the vehicle itself | Where the vehicle stopped and for how long |
| Instructions and messages | Dispatcher, agent or employer | What the driver was told, and what was withheld |
| Payment records | Employer or hire company | Whether the trip was paid as ordinary work or as something else |
What a stop at the crossing does to your week
The border at Perpignan is a working border: lorries, coaches, commuters and holidaymakers all pass through it, and an arrest hits each of them differently. For a driver, a night in custody can mean a missed delivery, a stranded vehicle and a conversation with the haulage firm. The vehicle may be held, the load inspected and the paperwork retained, and a company may need to explain the delay to its client. Tell the firm in a sentence that you are held and that your lawyer will be in touch; do not describe the stop in writing.
For a traveller, the effects are immediate. A passport, phone and keys may be retained, and a car or van held at the border can stay out of your hands for a long time. Cash that was carried can be retained pending a decision. Onward tickets may have to be cancelled, hotel nights extended and a person who was driving may be told not to leave France even once released. Keep every receipt, because costs matter later.
The freight market around Perpignan employs a great many people on short contracts, and a person who fails to appear loses hours. Seasonal workers on the farms and in the markets may have lodging tied to the job. A person with a precarious status may fear that an arrest will put it in danger, and should say so to the lawyer the same day.
People who live on the Italian side of the corridor often learn of the arrest from a message in the middle of the night. Relatives then have to arrange money, flights and a lawyer at short notice. Give them one contact person and a short list of tasks. Remember too what a foreign entry may do later to visas, driving licences and professional registers.
Reflexes that make a roadside stop worse
- Do not guess whose cash, parcel or goods these are. Guesses offered to help are recorded as facts, and sums carried by the same party are added together.
- Do not post about the stop, the border or the police. Posts are captured and compared with your statement.
- Do not agree a story with the other people in the vehicle. It looks like coordination even where none was intended.
- Do not delete messages, call history, location data or photographs. Deletion is visible and treated as concealment.
- Do not sign a record or receipt that was not translated for you in full. An oral summary is not the document.
- Do not contact the person who gave you the load or the cash to ask what to say. It can turn a courier into part of an organisation.
- Do not make admissions in the hope of speeding up release. Release depends on the circumstances, not on how cooperative you seem.
- Do not let a relative or an employer negotiate with the police for you. Only your lawyer should speak on the substance.
Papers and facts to put together at once
Send scans or clear photographs together in a single email, not in pieces over several days.
- Identity document and residence document or visa, and driving licence if you were driving.
- Everything handed over by the officers: summons, notice of rights, seizure inventory, any customs record, release paper. Write down the time you received each.
- Vehicle documents, rental or ownership papers, insurance and the name of anybody who lent or hired out the vehicle.
- Freight papers where goods were carried: waybill, invoices, customs declarations and the name of the firm that instructed you.
- Receipts for cash and valuables that you had on you and a note of where the money came from, such as a withdrawal slip or an invoice.
- A written account of the journey, with times and places, composed at once, and the names of the people who travelled with you.
- Employer or agency contact details, contract and recent payslips.
- A designated relative or friend to act as the single point of contact.
At a roadside stop decisions are taken within minutes, long before any lawyer appears. Each option has a cost worth understanding in advance.
| Choice at the stop | What it can gain | What it can cost |
|---|---|---|
| Explaining the journey in detail | An innocent route may be confirmed by records | Any inaccuracy becomes a contradiction in the file |
| Saying nothing until counsel arrives | Nothing is recorded that later needs correcting | Officers may treat silence as a reason to hold you |
| Agreeing to a search | Cooperation is noted and the stop may end sooner | Consent removes an argument about how the search was conducted |
| Signing the record without reading it | Nothing at all | You adopt a summary written by somebody else, in another language |
| Asking for an interpreter | The account recorded is the one you meant to give | Only delay, which is preferable to a mistranslated statement |
How the studio handles a case on the Spanish corridor
The studio can be engaged by the person concerned, by a relative or by an employer, using the phone or email details on this page. The offices in Rome, Milan and Naples share the work, so there is no need to choose a city. The initial call is practical: who is held, where, what the officers have said, what has been signed or seized, and which dates appear on the papers. The studio does not forecast results and will not suggest that one can be guaranteed.
After the call, documents arrive as scans or photographs, and a written engagement sets out what is covered and how fees are reported. In Perpignan, the studio works with a local correspondent lawyer who can attend interviews, read the file in French and appear before the French authorities. Because many cases at this crossing have a Spanish or Andorran link, the studio also asks early whether proceedings exist on the other side of the border, and coordinates with a correspondent there where the facts require it. The studio keeps the Italian dimension in hand: any Italian alert or warrant, the position of the employer or the family, and how the French outcome appears at home.
Where several people travelled together, the studio considers at the start whether each needs separate representation. Communication is in Italian and English, with an interpreter wherever French is needed. Updates go to one designated contact. If nobody answers, leave your name, the place of detention and a number where you can be called back.
Questions for the lawyer when the arrest was at a crossing
- What is the charge, in the French terms on the paper, and is it a customs matter, a narcotics matter, a cash matter or something else?
- If sums carried by several people were added together, how does that affect my position and theirs?
- Is there a connected proceeding in Spain or Andorra, and do the two risk contradicting each other?
- Is there an Italian warrant, alert or proceeding behind the arrest?
- If the vehicle, the load or the cash was seized, how can it be recovered and who decides?
- If I was only the driver or the courier, how is my position distinguished from whoever ordered the journey?
- Should I be represented separately from the other people in the vehicle?
- If I am released, may I return to Italy while the matter is open, and what conditions might apply?
- What are the likely costs, and how will they be reported?
Terms you will find on the file
These expressions are the ones most often written next to a name after a stop on the corridor.
- Customs checks: inspections of vehicles and freight at or near the border, which are the usual start of a case here.
- Declaration obligations: the duty to declare cash above the permitted amount when crossing, which applies to sums carried by members of the same party taken together.
- Narcotics case: proceedings about substances moving north, in which the role of each person in the vehicle is examined separately.
- Goods and tobacco case: proceedings about items that came from outside the customs union, such as from Andorra, without the proper declarations.
- EAW: a European arrest warrant, used to hand a person from one EU country to another.
- Red Notice: an international alert asking police to locate a person, which is a request and not a finding of guilt.
About the lawyer
Criminal defence is the whole of this practice. Avv. Massimo Romano is enrolled with the Ordine degli Avvocati di Napoli and pleads before the Court of Cassation; the work that reaches him concerns Italian criminal procedure, extradition, European arrest warrants, and cases where an Italian citizen is held by a foreign authority. He takes instructions directly. The first contact is short and factual: what the charge is said to be, where the person is, what has already been signed or handed over. Nothing is promised at that stage, because the file has usually not been read. What follows the call is practical, a list of documents to collect, contact with the authority or with local counsel abroad, and a plan for the next hearing or request. Where relatives do not speak Italian, the conversation continues in their own language, and written updates are sent in that language as well, so nobody relies on second-hand translation.
Ring the office directly, or write on WhatsApp if calling is difficult. Keep beside you the summons or the record of the search, and the name of any lawyer already acting.
Avv. Massimo Romano — criminal defence lawyer, admitted to the Italian Court of Cassation
Iscritto all'Ordine degli Avvocati di Napoli n. 14553 | Patrocinante in Cassazione dal 23/10/2015
Roma, Via Avicenna 97, 00146 · Milano, Via Giuseppe Pecchio 3, 20129 · Napoli, Corso Umberto I 237, 80138
+39 335 669 3954 · WhatsApp