Fight against drug trafficking remains priority, says IntMin Predoiu in Antwerp
Despite the politically complex agenda in 2024, the fight against drug trafficking remains a priority, Internal Affairs minister Catalin Predoiu said on Wednesday in Antwerp.
"I would like to assure the Romanian public that, despite the extremely complex agenda in 2024 from a political point of view, for the Internal Affairs Ministry and for me personally the fight against drug trafficking remains a priority, a priority that I will address with concrete actions at the level of the Romanian Police. But, I stress, the efforts of the Police alone are not enough. Here we must act in concert at the level of the Port of Constanta, at the level of the customs institutions, at the level of the Border Police, at the level of the institutions that coordinate transport and logistical and financial activities in Romania. All these institutions must cooperate to launch a long-term effort at national and, integrated, at European level," Predoiu said, while participating in Antwerp, Belgium, at the launch of a new platform to fight drug trafficking in Europe, according to the Internal Affairs Ministry.
He recalled that, last year, several operational actions were launched at the level of the Romanian Police, which resulted in numerous actions to break up organised crime groups.
"These actions will continue in 2024," Predoiu stressed, recalling that a working group is operating at CSAT [Supreme Council of National Defence] level to coordinate the integrated effort of several institutions to combat drug trafficking.
Minister Predoiu points out that this scourge must be fought in cooperation, both internally, between institutions, and internationally, at the level of the European Commission and the Member States.