BUCHAREST, December 20th -- The SECI Regional Center coordinated for almost a year Operation “RING”, a drug trafficking case which involved a Turkish criminal organization which operated in Romania and Turkey, having The Netherlands as destination country for drug sale.
The Romanian authorities asked for SECI Center’s involvement in January 2007. The Center immediately established the connection with Turkish law enforcement agencies. Since that moment the SECI Center transmitted and solved tens of information requests, acting as the only communication platform between the authorities from the two countries.
At mid December, all the intelligence gathered indicated the necessity of an immediate intervention. In this respect, at the Turkish-Bulgarian border, the Turkish authorities seized 58 kg of heroin, hidden in a Turkish truck.
After the drugs seizure, the arrests started. There were made almost simultaneously in Romania and Turkey. The Turkish officers detained 11 persons, while the Romanian authorities arrested the leader of the criminal organization and two lieutenants.
Due to the communication exchange, the authorities from the two countries have been following most of the steps made by the criminal organization members. For avoiding any possible leak of information, the SECI Center organized face-to-face high level meetings between the competent authorities from the two countries. The investigation beneficiated from the support offered to the Romanian officers by the Dutch and German law enforcement agencies.
“It was a rather difficult case because the criminals used coded language and private meetings to make all the arrangements for the drugs transport. They traveled to Turkey, to the Netherlands, but officers from these countries have been aware of their presence and activities. The corroborated information led to immediate reactions. The liaison officers working at the SECI Center have been available for 24 hours/day and they maintained a permanent contact with the law enforcement agencies from the countries involved. The case couldn’t have been concluded without international cooperation. We worked very well with the Anti Drug unit within the General Directorate for Countering Organized Criminality of Romanian Police, the Anti Drug Unit within Turkish National Police and with the Romanian and Turkish prosecutors. ”, Gabriel Sotirescu, SECI Center’s Deputy Director affirmed.
The fight against drug trafficking is a priority for the SECI Center, which dedicated one of its 7 Task Forces to this issue.
The SECI Regional Center for Combating Transborder Crime launched in 2000 and headquartered in Bucharest, Romania, is a unique operation organization which reunites police and customs liaison officers from the 12 member states (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey) who work together in direct cooperation.
