A NEW HOPE-Surveillance systems update

2026-07-22

One of the crimes that most weighs down the economy and public health of the EU countries are those related to the manufacture, transport, distribution and export of illegal tobacco; context in which cross-border operations are of vital importance in the fight against smuggling. The main objective of the “A New Hope” Project is to improve the investigation tools that will be used to protect the economic interests of the European Union, reinforcing the capacity of the Civil Guard to carry out the assigned missions. With these resources, it is intended to identify, dismantle active and experienced criminal networks that focus their activities on fraud and cigarette smuggling through ports and establishing illegal cigarette factories in Spain. All of this will make it possible to broaden and deepen the response of the authorities to criminal actions related to fraud, smuggling and corruption, intensifying the measures affected to date and updating the material available in the fight against smuggling. This is intended to give continuity to the actions initiated with the Grandiuntur and Smoke Ring projects that allowed, in the previous call, to start a new era in the fight against organized crime.The Civil Guar The Civil Guard has special units dedicated to exploiting advanced technological skills to fight these criminal groups, but these skills must be continually improved to stay one step ahead of the criminals. Therefore, providing the Civil Guard's Central Operational Unit with these advanced technical surveillance capabilities is crucial to enhance its capacity to prevent and fight fraud, corruption and, especially, OCG tobacco smuggling. The importance of the project is defined by its alignment with the objectives of the current call, helping to protect the financial interests of the Union, thus improving the competitiveness of the Union's economy and guaranteeing the protection of taxpayers' money.

Spain

2025-10-01