POLOTSK, 10 March (BelTA) – The fight against organized crime has no borders and includes combating drug trafficking and illegal migration. The Belarusian police join their efforts with foreign colleagues to make this fight more effective, Belarusian First Deputy Interior Minister Valentin Mikhnevich said ahead of the conference that gathered chiefs of the Belarusian and Latvian criminal police in Polotsk on 10 March, BelTA has learned.
“There is a number of issues associated with organized crime. Organized crime is still alive, although there are no high-profile manifestations of it. Our work is focused on preventive measures. It is no secret that five out of six criminal kingpins in Belarus are currently in prison. One is hiding out in a European country. We have informed our foreign colleagues about this, and I believe certain measures will be taken,” Valentin Mikhnevich said. He emphasized that drug trafficking and illegal migration are also types of organized crime, although they are not easy for general people to notice. Together with foreign colleagues, the Belarusian police make great efforts to combat these crimes that have no borders.
Valentin Mikhnevich cited examples of successful cooperation in 2015. Thanks to the information provided by the Latvian police, the driver of a car stuffed with six kilograms of heroin was arrested in Vitebsk Oblast. Several groups of illegal migrants, mainly Afghan and Vietnamese nationals, were seized as they tried to cross the Belarusian-Latvian border in 2015.
Besides, an international criminal gang responsible for seven burglaries in Russia and Armenia were arrested in Brest Oblast in February 2016. “All this is a result of hard work of our police officers,” Valentin Mikhnevich pointed out.
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