Swiss and French police boost cross-border cooperation

On June 20, 2019, a criminal gang attacked a money delivery van at Mont-sur-Lausanne in western Switzerland and stole around CHF25 million which has never been recovered. One suspect was handed an 11-year prison sentence in March 2022 by a Swiss court. Other suspects are reportedly due to face trial in France. © Keystone / Cyril Zingaro

Switzerland and France are strengthening cooperation between their judicial, police and customs authorities to step up the fight against cross-border crime, Swiss authorities have announced.

“Currently, highly mobile, organised international criminal groups cross borders, commit crimes, and then retreat,” the Federal Office of Police (Fedpol) said in a statementExternal link on Monday. “Areas near the border serve as a fallback zone for them.”

Dealing with this kind of cross-border crime requires a coordinated approach, it said. Consequently, the head of Fedpol and the French ambassador to Switzerland agreed on November 21, 2022 to set up a joint working group to examine how to adapt existing police cooperation on both sides.

A so-called “Paris Agreement”, concluded by Switzerland and France on October 9, 2007, currently oversees cooperation between the judicial, police and customs authorities of both countries.

In recent years, money transport vehicles and watch-making firms in cantons Vaud and Jura have been particularly targeted in spectacular cases involving criminals crossing into Switzerland from neighbouring France.