The Romanian body that prosecutes organised crime has presented its activity report for 2017.
Viewed by sections of public opinion in Romania as the little and less high-profile sister of the famous National Anticorruption Directorate, the Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism, known as DIICOT, has wide-ranking responsibilities, from combating illegal drug trade to monitoring extremism.
At a meeting to assess its activity last year, the DIICOT prosecutors said 3,210 people were convicted based on their indictments. Many of the criminal groups the body has investigated specialise in human trafficking and child trafficking, mainly for the purposes of sexual exploitation in Western Europe. Other such groups deal in heritage crime, migrant trafficking and tobacco smuggling.
Last year, prosecutors seized more than 2 tonnes of drugs, almost three times less than in 2016. Romania is still mostly a transit country on the so-called Balkan route used for trafficking heroin, cocaine and ecstasy. Cannabis is the most trafficked drug in Romania, which is brought in by road, in particular from Spain and The Netherlands.
Unlike most west-European states, Romania did not face any concrete and considerable terrorist threats in 2017, according to the DIICOT report. The head of the Directorate, Daniel Horodniceanu, has warned, however, that Islamic radicalisation is also a threat in Romania, just like elsewhere in Europe. Although it is not a widespread phenomenon, radicalisation has been on the rise in recent years, mainly among foreign residents originating from areas prosecutors describe as having "active terrorism problems", as well as among Romanian citizens who have converted to Islam.
Professor Stefan Popescu, who specialises in Middle East cases, has told Radio Romania:
"I don't believe Romanians' conversion to Islam and radicalisation are bigger phenomena than in France or Italy. It's only a minor phenomenon in Romania, but it needs, however, to be kept under control. We've seen recently how, when certain migration routes were closed, Romania has become part of an alternative route for entering Europe. We've seen vessels with refugees coming all the way from Afghanistan, Syria and other conflict areas."
This is one more reason why the DIICOT head Daniel Horodniceanu has called for updating the country's legislation on preventing and combating terrorism.
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