October 18, 2024|PRESS RELEASE — Drug trafficking – A criminal group that established an international prescription drug smuggling route has been dismantled in a large-scale operation coordinated from Eurojust headquarters. Romanian, Estonian, Finnish and Serbian authorities, supported by Eurojust and Europol, arrested 47 people and seized more than 6 million tablets.
The criminal group, present throughout Europe, purchased pills from other criminal networks in Serbia. The pills, used to treat anxiety, seizures and insomnia, were then hidden in tires, in cars transported on trucks, and in clothing intended to be taken to Romania and Estonia. After arriving in Romania or Estonia, the pills were transported to the Nordic countries. Members of the criminal group in Finland and Norway acted as distributors and sold the pills on the streets. The sale of the pills was very profitable for the criminal group. The pills seized during the operations carried out by the national authorities have a market value of approximately 12.5 million euros.
To dismantle this complex network of criminals, Romanian authorities have opened an investigation into the group. Given the transnational nature of the criminal group, with activities in Romania, Estonia, Finland and Serbia, international cooperation between authorities has started, supported by Eurojust and Europol.
A Joint Investigation Team (JIT) was established at Eurojust between the Romanian, Estonian, Finnish and Serbian authorities to directly collect and exchange information and evidence and carry out joint operations.
To investigate the activity of the criminal group, special investigative techniques such as control delivery and undercover investigator have been successfully used by the authorities of all relevant countries. To this end, Eurojust facilitated the coordination and execution in Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia of the European Investigation Orders issued by Romania. As a result of these actions, 39 people were arrested and more than 4 million prescription drugs were seized.
After these measures, the JIT continued its investigations to put an end to the activities of the criminal group and bring it to justice.
On October 17, a large-scale international operation, coordinated from Eurojust headquarters in The Hague, led to the arrest of 14 people in Romania, 11 people in Serbia and 1 person in Finland. 41 searches were carried out simultaneously in Romania, 19 in Serbia and one in Finland.
Items seized during the operation include large quantities of pills, cash, cell phones, firearms and luxury cars. 2 houses were also seized in Romania. Europol facilitated the overall operation by liaising with operational authorities, processing available data and deploying two specialists with mobile offices to support the day of action.
The following authorities were involved in the actions:
Romania: Prosecutor’s Office at the High Court of Cassation and Justice Directorate for Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism Territorial Office of Oradea General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police Directorate for Combating Organized Crime Special Operations Department Central Analysis Unit information from the Romanian police; General Inspectorate of Border Police – Bors, Nadlac and Petea Offices Estonia: Northern District Prosecutor’s Office Police and Border Guard Board, Northern Prefecture, Crime Bureau, Drug and Organized Crime Unit Finland: District of prosecution of Southern Finland Helsinki Police Department and National Prosecuting Authority Serbia: Public Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime Directorate of Criminal Investigation Department for Combating Organized Crime Department for Combating Organized Drug Trafficking
Originally published in The European Times.
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