Europol Head Lauds Bulgarian Govt on Organized Crime Yet Again

Europol Director Rob Wainwright congratulates Prime Minister Borisov, Interior Minister Tsvetanov on fight against organized crime. Photo by BGNES.

Europol Director Rob Wainwright has praised once again Bulgaria's progress with the fight against organized crime over the past two years.

According to Wainwright, the operational information supplied by the Bulgarian authorities for the drawing up of an EU Organized Crime Threat Assessment is on an excellent level, possibly one of the best in Europe.

Speaking after a meeting with Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov Monday, the Europol Director, who commended the Bulgarian government for the third time in one year, presented details about the changing landscapes of organized crime across Europe.

In his words, cocaine trafficking routes have been redirected away from Spain and Portugal, following successful police operations carried out there.

Reiterating the results of a report released May 04th, Wainwright pinpointed the Bulgarian Black Sea capital of Varna as one of the numerous European entry points for cocaine.

He specified that Europol is involved in about 20 leading projects for fighting organized crime groups in Europe, adding that expert police units in Bulgaria are collaborating with the agency on most of the projects in all spheres concerning Bulgarian organized crime groups active in Europe.

In Wainwright's opinion, in some spheres, including euro banknotes forgings, Bulgaria's participation stands out as one of the best in Europe. Last week, Bulgarian police busted a network for printing fake Euros, confiscating fake notes with a nominal value of EUR 0.2 M. Working in cooperation with Europol, police discovered two printing facilities, as well as blueprints for the creation of more than EUR 0.5 M in EUR 100 and 200 bills.

"We are considering a possibility for dispatching a Europol official to Bulgaria for a certain period of time in a bid to expand our cooperation with the police authorities in the country", the Europol director explained.

Wainwright reminded that organized crime continues to be a problem for entire Europe.

"We believe that the situation in Bulgaria is similar to that in the rest of Europe. There are powerful organized crime syndicates that have learned to adjust their methods, making it increasingly difficult for police forces to eliminate the gangs. ", he concluded.

According to Wainwright, tough joint measures on a European level are the best weapon in the fight against organized crime.