Europe takes coordinated measures to fight drug trafficking

Ports join efforts to tackle drug trafficking

Leyla Cheamil, 25.01.2024, 14:00

Drug trafficking is
becoming an acute problem not only in Romania, but in Europe as a whole. This
is why coordinated measures are required, in order to efficiently fight
trafficking in illegal substances, the use of which destroys lives.

To this end, a new
platform was created in Antwerp, Belgium to step up the fight against drug
trafficking. Attending the launch meeting was, among others, the Romanian interior
minister, Cătălin Predoiu. He said that, in spite of the extremely complex
political agenda in Romania this year, fighting drug trafficking remains a
priority.

Cătălin Predoiu mentioned
he would tackle this through specific actions by the Romanian police, the
border police and the public institutions that coordinate transportation,
logistics and financial activities in Romania. The interior minister also
discussed the need for coordinated action in the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanţa.

He warned that every year
Europe is flooded by large amounts of illegal drugs entering member states through
their major ports, facilitated by organised crime, corruption, blackmail and racketeering,
which are essentially threats to the security of the EU member countries.

Cătălin Predoiu said that
last year a number of operations were initiated by the Romanian Police, which
led to the dismantling of organised crime groups, and that such operations will
continue in 2024 as well.

The Supreme Defence
Council comprises a task force that will coordinate the integrated efforts of
several institutions to fight drug trafficking, the interior minister said. He
also pointed out that this scourge must be curbed through domestic,
inter-institutional cooperation and international cooperation between member
states and at European Commission level.

Cătălin Predoiu also
emphasised once again that drugs are a national security threat, a threat
against Romania’s citizens, and fighting it has become a multi-disciplinary
science. It combines law enforcement skills with knowledge related to money
circulation and laundering, with financial, accounting, management and
logistics skills, the interior minister explained.

Drug consumption has
become a serious problem in Romania, and it has been the topic of extensive
public discussion since a car crash at the seaside last summer, when a young
man driving under the influence of psychoactive substances killed two people
and injured several others. Drug consumption, especially among the youth,
remains an issue, and as recently as on Wednesday prosecutors apprehended a
number of young people involved in illegal drug trafficking in Bucharest and
Oradea (west). (AMP)