Measures for Combating Drug Trafficking

Romanian Interior Minister Cătălin Predoiu has been summoned to the Government Hour upon the request of the USR in order to present the ministrys actions and strategy in fighting drugs consumption

Daniela Budu, 04.10.2023, 14:39

After several tragic events caused by drug consumption shocked Romania this summer, Parliament in Bucharest is trying to toughen the legal means against the consumption, possession and traffic of illegal substances. Upon the USR initiative, Interior Minister Catalin Predoiu, who was Justice Minister before, has been invited to the Government Hour in the Chamber of Deputies to give assurances that the fight against this scourge together with fighting human trafficking and organized crime groups are a priority of his mandate. According to him there is a national anti-drug strategy endorsed by the government for the period between 2022 and 2026. He has also said that in the past three months, 44 organised crime groups have been dismantled and hundreds of kilograms of high-risk substances have been seized. Cătălin Predoiu has also defended the activity of his subordinated personnel.

Catalin Predoiu: „There are hundreds, thousands of actions which resulted in the capture of drugs, and the protection of the citizens rights. What are we going to do next? I am reshuffling the entire inspectorate in Constanta. In record time the experts of the Ministry have made public a draft law aimed at reorganizing and rethinking the frame law for drug fighting.”

Furthermore, Predoiu says that the ministry he leads has staged a special plan of measures for fighting drug trafficking in schools which comprises daily actions. He has accused the USR representatives that they are using the drug-related dramas as an electoral leverage as they are the promoters of a draft law for the legalization of a consumption of 3 grams of cannabis.

During the debates, the former Interior Minister Lucian Bode has pleaded for a national pact, without political implications, for fighting drug trafficking.

Lucian Bode: „This really means to defy an entire country; to come and support the legalization of drug consumption on one hand and on the other to call on the authorities to apply concrete measures. The drugs consumption issue is a complex threat, which calls not only for resources but also for vision and adjustability. Results cannot be obtained overnight as much as we want.”

In response the USR say that they didnt get from the minister any satisfactory answer to the questions addressed in Parliament and have called for a serious reform of the Police forces. The USR MPs have said that the Interior Ministry is not doing its mandate properly. Here is USR leader, Ionuţ Moşteanu:

Ionut Mosteanu „We have seen no answer to the questions we have asked the Minister. There are only figures because you can write anything on paper. The reality is different though. Drugs are sold in schools and no major network is being dismantled. You have corrupted employees, peoples trust in police is undermined by those who chose to turn the head to the other direction.”

In turn the UDMR has called for the strengthening of the rule of law and the AUR representatives have underlined that the drug phenomenon is the result of the disastrous public policies in the past years.

(bill)