News item | 07-10-2022 | 15:30
The coalition of European countries in the fight against serious and organized crime is being strengthened. This is what Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands have agreed in Amsterdam today. The investigative services of the six countries often cooperate in investigations, for example thanks to the cracking of encrypted message traffic from criminals EncroChat and Sky ECC. The cooperation is being stepped up and broadened, for example in connection with other countries such as in Latin America. After all, international drug crime never sleeps, continuously shifts smuggling routes between seaports in Western Europe, tries out new money laundering constructions and threatens our society and democratic constitutional state with intimidation and violence.
Minister Yeşilgöz-Zegerius of Justice and Security has agreed a multi-year action plan with ministers and representatives of Justice and of the Interior from Belgium, Germany, France, Italy and Spain to work together more as one front in the fight against organized crime. Representatives of the European Commission, Europol and Eurojust also took part in the discussion. The aim is to disrupt, break through and take down criminal networks and their companies by combining each other’s strengths more: aligning resources, expertise and interventions more closely and deploying them jointly.
Organized crime is literally and figuratively crossing all our borders. As soon as it gets too hot for drug criminals in the port of Rotterdam, they move to Antwerp or Hamburg and vice versa. In doing so, they threaten and intimidate everything that is dear to us in order to further their illegal practices. It is not only our guardians of the rule of law that are affected, such as judges, prosecutors, police officers, journalists, mayors and ministers. But employees in the port, people with financial expertise and citizens just living in their residential areas are also confronted with violence and mistaken murders. By standing together, we tackle these ruthless criminals.”,
said Minister Yeşilgöz-Zegerius.
For example, a platform is being set up where the six countries work together to disrupt and limit drug smuggling via their logistics hubs – (air) ports and transport flows, which act as gateways to Europe. International cooperation is being expanded, including with a task force on organized drug crime with Latin American countries. In doing so, efforts are being made to strengthen the capacity in cooperation with so-called source and transit countries in the drug trade, often in Latin America, in order to provide greater resistance against criminal networks. There is also cooperation to tackle the export of drugs and their transit, for example with the United States, the Caribbean and further in Europe with, among others, the Balkan countries.
In addition, the six countries will increase screening for financial flows, business and objects, such as ships and other vehicles, that are (un)consciously used for criminal activities. Criminal money is put away worldwide and is therefore internationally traced and seized by focusing on strengthened EU legislation and cooperation agreements with countries from which payment and trading in cryptos is supported. Innovations are supported to increase the detection of illicit goods and to increase information gathering and sharing between investigative authorities while preserving data protection.
The multi-annual action plan is a follow-up to the agreement that Belgium, France, Spain and the Netherlands made on 9 December 2021 to join forces more closely against organized and subversive crime. Now Italy and Germany have also joined. Both countries are important partners in the fight against serious crime and bring a lot of experience and expertise to undermine criminal power structures. It has been agreed that from now on we will meet regularly to keep the approach up-to-date and sharp. Next spring, the same group will meet again in the Belgian port city of Antwerp.