SELEC hosted at its Headquarters, on 4th of November, the debriefing meeting of Regional Operation NELSON, dedicated to countering illicit cash flows in Southeast Europe.
Operation NELSON was carried out in two phases, from 9 -13 March and from 23– 27 March 2026, with the participation of eight SELEC Member States: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Moldova, North Macedonia and Romania.
Police, customs and border police officers intensified controls at border crossing points, at the green border and at airports, in order to detect undeclared transfers of cash and high-value goods. National authorities reported their results daily to SELEC through the Liaison Officers.
The debriefing meeting was chaired by Mr. Chavdar Georgiev, Director for Operations of SELEC, and brought together representatives of the participating Member States and of UK HM Revenue and Customs, which supported the operation.
More than 50 cash seizures were reported, amounting approximately EUR 1,100,000 Euro, alongside several other substantial sums in the local currencies of the Member States and neighboring countries, as well as gold bars and gold jewelry.
The Operations Directorate presented the results of the operation, followed by national presentations from the Member States.
Participants also shared lessons learned and proposals for future regional operations on illicit cash flows and tobacco smuggling, including better targeting of routes and crossing points and closer involvement of financial investigation units and prosecutors.
Mr. Georgiev highlighted the importance of cash detection as a first key step in uncovering the criminal networks behind illicit financial flows. He also emphasized that operations such as NELSON demonstrate the value of coordinated controls and real-time information exchange among Member States and Operational Partners.
