November 8, 2026

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The European Post

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November 8, 2026

Newsletter

The European Post

Policy • Diplomacy • strategic insight

LATEST
Rape Definition Gap Persists Two Years After EU DirectiveBanking Competitiveness Report Vote Slips To 1 DecemberUkraine Accession Clusters Four And Five Stay Shut After Hungary DealEU Steel Measure Caps Tariff-Free Imports At 18.3 Million TonnesAI Act Omnibus Sets 2 December Deadline For Deepfake WatermarksTürkiye EU Report Row Clouds Customs Union Upgrade HopesWestern Balkans Roaming Talks Test Brussels Integration PledgeRail Ticketing Package Reaches Ministers With Gaps OpenMarket Integration Package Narrows As ESMA Powers ShrinkWolf Protection Rules Meet Sweden’s 72-Wolf Hunt TestPay Transparency Directive Deadline Passes With Only Four States ReadyHolding Cap Fight Shadows Digital Euro Law Ahead Of Council TalksCBAM Expansion Talks Test Whether Finished Goods Face Carbon LevyIsraeli Settlement Imports Ban Splits Commission And CouncilUnlimited Pesticide Approvals Face Public Rejection In PollMethane Import Rules Delayed A Year With Review ClauseSustainable Tourism Strategy Hands Europe A Toolbox For Crowded CitiesPharma Package Heads To Parliament After Council Backs Drug ReformRussia Sanctions Alignment Pulls Nine Partners Into Arms ListingsBrazil Farm Exports Jump 14.8 Percent Under EU Mercosur Trade DealRape Definition Gap Persists Two Years After EU DirectiveBanking Competitiveness Report Vote Slips To 1 DecemberUkraine Accession Clusters Four And Five Stay Shut After Hungary DealEU Steel Measure Caps Tariff-Free Imports At 18.3 Million TonnesAI Act Omnibus Sets 2 December Deadline For Deepfake WatermarksTürkiye EU Report Row Clouds Customs Union Upgrade HopesWestern Balkans Roaming Talks Test Brussels Integration PledgeRail Ticketing Package Reaches Ministers With Gaps OpenMarket Integration Package Narrows As ESMA Powers ShrinkWolf Protection Rules Meet Sweden’s 72-Wolf Hunt TestPay Transparency Directive Deadline Passes With Only Four States ReadyHolding Cap Fight Shadows Digital Euro Law Ahead Of Council TalksCBAM Expansion Talks Test Whether Finished Goods Face Carbon LevyIsraeli Settlement Imports Ban Splits Commission And CouncilUnlimited Pesticide Approvals Face Public Rejection In PollMethane Import Rules Delayed A Year With Review ClauseSustainable Tourism Strategy Hands Europe A Toolbox For Crowded CitiesPharma Package Heads To Parliament After Council Backs Drug ReformRussia Sanctions Alignment Pulls Nine Partners Into Arms ListingsBrazil Farm Exports Jump 14.8 Percent Under EU Mercosur Trade Deal

OLAF Investigations Trace 118 Million Euro Customs Fraud In Poland

Gísli Jóhannesson
Legislative Analyst, Anti-Fraud (OLAF)

Warsaw: OLAF investigations in the first half of 2026 show how organised fraud networks use the Union’s eastern frontier, with one case alone involving about €118 million in evaded customs duties and €79 million in evaded VAT. The figures appear in an overview of OLAF’s operational work from 15 January to 30 June 2026 published by eucrim on 1 July 2026.

The case dates from 28 April 2026. It concerned VAT and customs fraud across the Polish-Belarusian border, and it involved Belgium, Slovenia, Germany, Hungary and Poland. The overview links the Polish part of the case to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. It does not name suspects or say how many people face charges, so readers should treat the sums as the amounts OLAF reported, not as court findings.

Tobacco and e-cigarettes supplied another large case. Operation JCO VAPE, announced on 17 April 2026, led to the seizure of more than 94 million pieces and more than 2,500 kilograms or litres of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco between 14 November and 15 December 2025. Twenty-three member states and seven non-EU partner countries took part, which shows how far OLAF investigations depend on cross-border cooperation.

Other cases reveal the range of OLAF investigations. Many of them started with customs data and tip-offs from partner services. On 6 May, Polish and Spanish customs officers seized about 70,000 kilograms of falsely declared Chinese textiles in three containers in Poland. On 5 June, Portuguese authorities seized 14,629 counterfeit truck parts, worth more than €600,000, made in Türkiye. On 25 June, OLAF reported illegal textile waste shipments from Italy to Türkiye, with more waste found in Turkish warehouses.

Environmental and sanctions cases complete the picture. On 26 May, OLAF and Eurojust exposed an Italian scheme that turned waste ash into charcoal. In February, investigators traced hazardous waste from Albania to Thailand that was misdeclared as iron oxide. In January, OLAF reported more than 760 used vehicles declared for Türkiye but bound for Russia, with criminal investigations in three member states.

The overview has limits. It comes from a third-party summary by Thomas Wahl, not from OLAF, and it gives no totals for investigations opened or concluded, no recovery recommendations and no quotes from OLAF officials. The wider OLAF Report 2025, published on 20 April 2026, set out annual recovery figures, and readers who need totals should consult it directly.

The pattern is clear even without totals. The OLAF investigations in this overview share one lesson. Customs fraud, counterfeit goods, waste crime and sanctions evasion all exploit weak points between national systems. The next test for OLAF investigations is whether national prosecutors and the EPPO turn seizures into convictions, and whether customs authorities close the routes that the Polish border case exposed.

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