Criminal investigators from the Celje and Maribor Police Directorates, in cooperation with the General Police Directorate, successfully concluded a long-running criminal investigation into organised crime, arresting the members of an international organised crime group that had been committing criminal offences in Slovenia in the areas of illicit drug smuggling and trafficking, illicit manufacture and trafficking of weapons and explosives, and criminal offences of causing general danger through the use of explosive devices.
Details of the criminal investigation were presented at today's press conference by (from left): Head of the Criminal Police Division of the Celje Police Directorate Aleš Slapnik, Head of the Organised Crime Division of the Criminal Police Directorate at the General Police Directorate Damjan Apollonio and Head of the Criminal Police Division of the Maribor Police Directorate Stanko Vidovič.
According to Damjan Apollonio, Head of the Organised Crime Division of the Criminal Police Directorate at the General Police Directorate, the criminal investigation in Slovenia had been carried out as part of international cooperation and information exchange with the French judicial authorities and the law enforcement authorities of Sweden, Germany, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Europol, within the EMPACT project (European Multidisciplinary Platform against Criminal Threats).
The members of the international crime group operating in Slovenia had a clear hierarchy, with different individuals performing different roles, from the organiser, to suppliers, drug couriers and final customers. In the commission of criminal offences, they used encrypted means of communication and acted cautiously and covertly, which required additional commitment from investigators and continuous control of their illegal activities. Illicit drugs were sold to buyers in Slovenia, while larger quantities of illicit drugs were delivered by couriers to members of organised crime groups abroad. The crime group also used explosives as a method of intimidation to achieve their objectives.
The Slovenian criminal police consider the investigation of organised crime to be a priority and a permanent task. Due to Slovenia's geostrategic position, the involvement of its citizens in the criminal activities of international organised crime groups and their association with organised crime group members coming mainly from the Western Balkans is quite frequent, which was also proven in this case.
The Slovenian police, together with Europol, Interpol, and other countries, are making great efforts to investigate organised crime, in particular by identifying the sophisticated methods used by organised crime groups and by tracing financial flows through financial investigations and seizing criminal proceeds. Also in this case, the criminal police carried out activities to seize both movable and immovable assets from the organised crime group.
