epa12548034 Centifolia rose petals are used for manually produced chocolate bonbons at the Maison Duplanteur chocolate factory in Grasse, southern France, 25 November 2025. While centifolia roses from Grasse are primarily used in perfume making, they are also utilized in culinary arts, including chocolates. The weeks leading up to Christmas are the busiest time of the year for the sweets industry. EPA/SEBASTIEN NOGIER In a joint operation, the Catalan police and Spanish and French customs agents seized materials valued at more than 94 million euros ($111 million), the regional government said in a statement.
It said seven people had been arrested for belonging to a criminal organisation, smuggling and offences relating to patent violation, and two warehouses storing a total of 1.2 million bottles of counterfeit perfumes had been seized.
The regional government said the criminal organisation had generated scents to mimic the products of over 50 brands and stored raw materials to produce 150,000 litres of different fragrances, and transported large quantities of counterfeit perfume by road to other parts of Europe.
Authorities say the investigation is still open and that further arrests could be made.
($1 = 0.8460 euros)
(Reporting by Paolo Laudani, Editing by Aislinn Laing and Timothy Heritage)