Viewed by
\nsections of public opinion in Romania as the little and less high-profile
\nsister of the famous National Anticorruption Directorate, the Directorate for
\nInvestigating Organised Crime and Terrorism, known as DIICOT, has
\nwide-ranking responsibilities, from combating illegal drug trade to monitoring
\nextremism. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
At a meeting to assess its
\nactivity last year, the DIICOT prosecutors said 3,210 people were convicted
\nbased on their indictments. Many of the criminal groups the body has
\ninvestigated specialise in human trafficking and child trafficking, mainly for
\nthe purposes of sexual exploitation in Western Europe. Other such groups deal
\nin heritage crime, migrant trafficking and tobacco smuggling. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Last year, prosecutors
\nseized more than 2 tonnes of drugs, almost three times less than in 2016.
\nRomania is still mostly a transit country on the so-called Balkan route used
\nfor trafficking heroin, cocaine and ecstasy. Cannabis is the most trafficked
\ndrug in Romania, which is brought in by road, in particular from Spain and The
\nNetherlands. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Unlike most west-European
\nstates, Romania did not face any concrete and considerable terrorist threats in
\n2017, according to the DIICOT report. The head of the Directorate, Daniel
\nHorodniceanu, has warned, however, that Islamic radicalisation is also a threat
\nin Romania, just like elsewhere in Europe. Although it is not a widespread
\nphenomenon, radicalisation has been on the rise in recent years, mainly among
\nforeign residents originating from areas prosecutors describe as having active
\nterrorism problems, as well as among Romanian citizens who have converted to
\nIslam. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Professor Stefan Popescu,
\nwho specialises in Middle East cases, has told Radio Romania:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
I don’t believe Romanians’
\nconversion to Islam and radicalisation are bigger phenomena than in France or
\nItaly. It’s only a minor phenomenon in Romania, but it needs, however, to be
\nkept under control. We’ve seen recently how, when certain migration routes were
\nclosed, Romania has become part of an alternative route for entering Europe.
\nWe’ve seen vessels with refugees coming all the way from Afghanistan, Syria and
\nother conflict areas.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
This is one more reason why
\nthe DIICOT head Daniel Horodniceanu has called for updating the country’s
\nlegislation on preventing and combating terrorism.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Romanian body that prosecutes organised crime has presented its activity report for 2017.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":58633,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-76409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n