SELEC’S AWARDS GRANTED TO LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES FOR THE SECOND SEMESTER OF 2014

Bucharest, March 4, 2015 – SELEC Bi-annual Awards Committee decided to grant the following awards to the law enforcement authorities from the SELEC Member States for the second semester of 2014, as an appreciation for the successful cases using Center’s cooperation channels and involving at least two Member States:

First Prize

– Operation PHOENIX/BRUNO, a case in the field of drug trafficking, involving the law enforcement authorities from Republic of Bulgaria and Romania, which led to the arrest of 5 persons and seizure of 55.625 kg of cocaine. Arrest warrant was issued for the main organizer, while the vehicle used for smuggling has been confiscated. 

– Operation OSKAR, in the field of migrants smuggling, between Hungary and Republic of Serbia which succeeded with the arrest of 19 perpetrators, including the organizer, and temporary seizure of a large amount of money, significant number of communication devices and several pieces of weapons. Five migrants working for the organized crime group were apprehended in Austria. 

Second Prize

– Operation MAVROVO
, a drug trafficking case developed by the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Republic of Serbia which conducted to the arrest of 4 persons and seizure of 168 kg of marijuana.

– Operation JOKER, a case in the field of cigarettes smuggling, involving Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republic of Croatia, which led to the arrest of 21 persons and seizure of 1,694,300 pieces of cigarettes, different brands, 2.672 tons of tobacco, 108 bags of tobacco, two machines with equipment and materials for the manufacture of cigarettes, 3 cars, 46.7 grams of marijuana, three handguns, 40,165 EUR, 2,600 USD and 7,000 KM.

Third Prize

– Operation M5
, a case in the field of migrants smuggling, among Republic of Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania, with the following results: arrest of 1 person in Republic of Bulgaria, arrest warrant issued for the second perpetrator (identified based on DNA and fingerprints analysis), 140 illegal migrants detected, 7 perpetrators under investigation, new modus operandi detected.

– Operation VIBER, adrug trafficking case developed by Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, which led to the arrest of 53 persons and seizure of 33.9 kg of cannabis, 657.3 grams of heroin, 1.35 kg of amphetamine, 12 grams of cocaine, 2 automatic rifles, 5 handguns, 1 crossbow, large quantity of ammunition and 5.000 EUR cash.