On 28 September 2021, a coordinated action between the Moldovan and Montenegrin Police authorities and Prosecutor’s Offices, with the coordination and support of SELEC, has led to the arrest in Republic of Moldova and Montenegro of the leader and members of an organized crime group dealing with drug trafficking and money laundering.
During the joint action day more than 10 house searches were performed, 7 persons were arrested, property items belonging to the organized crime group in value of almost 1,2 million Euro were seized, as well as two luxury vehicles worth 100,000 Euro, 120 debit cards, synthetic drugs, “black accounting” electronically devices and other evidence.
The perpetrators circulated money, obtained from concealed transactions of drug trade, by using over 70 bank accounts, mainly from Russia and Ukraine.
For camouflaging their illegal activity the criminals used communication through encrypted Internet channels, as well as they were forcing customers to confirm their location in the closest payment terminal from which they were to pay for drugs, within 15 minutes upon receipt of payment confirmation.
SELEC supported joint investigation codenamed NOVAC from the onset, bringing together all the involved authorities so as to establish a joint strategy, by organizing several coordination meetings to facilitate exchange of information, evidence, intelligence, and common activities at the police and prosecutors’ level.
The joint investigation team of Montenegrin and Moldovan authorities supported by SELEC and the Project IPA 2019 enabled cooperation and coordination in this case.