Measures against drug and human trafficking

Romanian justice minister Alina Gorghiu calls for the immediate adoption of the bills on combating drug and human trafficking.

Mihai Pelin, 29.01.2024, 13:50

Parliament
begins its first session this year on 1st
February. Justice minister Alina Gorghiu has called for it to
fast-track the three bills on combating drug and human trafficking,
saying they can lead to a reduction in this worrying phenomenon.

The
first of these bills is about the creation of a drug traffickers’
record. Under the bill, which has been submitted to the Chamber of
Deputies, drug traffickers will be monitored by state institutions in
real time, making it more difficult for them to break the law. The
second bill, also blocked in the Chamber of Deputies, is known as the
2 Mai bill, after the Black Sea village and resort where last
summer a
19-year-old young man who was driving after having consumed drugs
crashed his car into a group of young people walking on the side of
the road, killing two. Earlier, he had been stopped by the police
twice, but had been allowed to leave the police station without being
tested for drug use. Drugs were also found in his car, which didn’t
even have a valid car insurance. The bill therefore stipulates that
high-risk traffickers should
no longer receive suspended sentences, but should serve their time in
prison. Finally, the third bill refers to the creation of detox and
rehabilitation centres for people addicted to drugs in each of
Romania’s development regions. The bill has been submitted to the
Senate. Recently, the first private centre to treat drug addiction
opened in Târgu Mureş, in the centre. It provides treatment for
addiction to cocaine, alcohol, gambling, sex, internet and shopping.

Combating drug trafficking is a priority and will be tackled with
concrete actions by the Romanian Police, promised the interior
minister Cătălin Predoiu. Last year, the Police’s organised crime
department together with the Directorate for Investigating Organised
Crime and Terrorism carried out almost 900 operations to combat drug
trafficking. They conducted thousands of home searches and dismantled
dozens of organised crime groups. They also confiscated 1,179 kg of
drugs and searched over 4,000 persons, indicting at least 2,500.
Also, 187 operations were carried out last year aimed at combating
human trafficking, leading to the dismantling of 35 organised crime
groups and the indictment of 465 persons for around 1,700 crimes. Of
the over 1,300 criminal cases investigated by the Directorate for
Combating Organised Crime last year, half focused on international
human trafficking. (CM)