CEPOL course “Southeast Europe Organised Crime Organisations - OCTA Related” was organised by the Romanian Ministry of Administration and Interior, General Directorate of Human Resources Management on 8-11 November 2010. Taking into consideration the fact that threats of organised crime are a real challenge for police officers in the Member States, the aim of the course was particularly to deepen the cooperation between specialists involved in combating this phenomenon.
Held at Hotel Royal in Bucharest, the course attracted 17 participants from ten Member States (Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Spain and United Kingdom) with experts from Estonia, Italy, France, Romania and Europol also taking part.
After the official opening of the course by the Deputy General Director of the General Directorate of Human Resources Management, Drago?-Nicolae Ploe?teanu, the Romanian Governing Board voting member, Radu Todoran, presented CEPOL’s mission and vision. CEPOL has a well defined role regarding the support and development of a European approach to the main problems facing the Member States in the fight against crime, crime prevention, the maintenance of law, order and public security, in particular the cross-border dimension.
During the course, participants learnt about the following topics:
- “About CEPOL”, presented by Radu Todoran from the Romanian General Directorate of Human Resources Management
- “Lex Ferenda (future law) on legal framework improvement in preventing and combating organised crime”, presented by Ligia Pintilie from the Romanian Police Academy “Alexandru Ioan Cuza”
- “The criminological particulars of multinational corporation fraud” presented by Mihai Marcoci from the Romanian Police Academy “Alexandru Ioan Cuza”
- “Comparative Study: Victims of trafficking in human beings and victims of abuse” presented by Corina Zaharia from the Romanian Institute of Studies for Public Order
- “The threat of organised crime on South-east of Europe” presented by Roberto Gonella, Europol
- “International projection of organised crime groups operating in South-east Europe” presented by Guido Coppola from the Italian Ministry of the Interior, Criminal Police Central Directorate , International Police Cooperation Service
- “Drug Roads” presented by Michel Felkay, from the French Regional Police Attaché (Croatia)
- “Criminal networks in the Baltic Sea Region” presented by Risto Pullat, from the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board.
- “Means of drugs’” concealment presented by Ioana M?rg?rit from the General Inspectorate of Romanian Police
- “Specific means of investigating trafficking in human being cases” presented by Iulia Popescu from the General Inspectorate of Romanian Police
- “Victims’ identification and protection: Traffickers’ identification and punishment” presented by Silviu Pitran from the General Inspectorate of Romanian Police
He added: “We can easily deduce that the European area is favourable for drug traffickers; traffickers in human beings and money launderers. CEPOL has the most important role: to create a strong network which will incorporate police officers specialized in combating crime organisations.”
During the four days training activity the participants had the possibility to exchange their experiences and knowledge in the field of the continuous fight against organised crime.
Participants’ also experienced a visit to the SECI Regional Center for Combating Transborder Crime which has its headquarters in Bucharest, Romania. From the very beginning the officials mentioned the mission of the center “We assemble the power of 13 nations’ law enforcement agencies and add the value of experts, thus building together a strong platform against criminality. We commit ourselves to sustain the Southeast European countries declared combat against organised crime and to strengthen the law enforcement capabilities for countering organised crime.”
