Anti-organized crime agency's 2021 tally: 3 tons of drugs, 4.6 kg of gold, 224 ml cigarettes seized

The Directorate for Combating Organized Crime (DCCO) turned 29 on Friday, having unraveled throughout its existence some of the most important organized crime cases on the hands of the Romanian Police, a release informs.

At local level, the anti-organized crime agency has 15 brigades, 28 services and 4 drug analysis and profiling labs, and the central office is structured along the same lines of work.

In its efforts to dismantle crime rings, the Directorate for Combating Organized Crime cooperates with peer structures from other countries, as well as with competent international bodies, heaving earned the recognition of international partners.

Alone in 2021 the structures for the crackdown on organized crime have seized 4.6 kilograms of gold and gold jewelry, 834 buildings, 996 cars, 83 firearms, 24,781,396 cigarettes, 50,206 kilograms of loose tobacco, 120 kilograms of explosives, as well as 420,240 RON, 630,515 euros, 750,935 US dollars and 9,895 pounds sterling in counterfeit currency.

Also, DCCO operations resulted in the seizure of almost 3 tons of drugs - of which 2,326.6 kilograms of high-risk drugs, 506.1 kilograms of risky substances and 57,389 miscellaneous tablets, and the identification of 135 illegal crops (of which 61 indoors).

Actions conducted together with prosecutors of the Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism or DCCO's own criminal probing activities resulted in distraint orders or the seizure of 7,772,070 RON, 3,692,470 euros and 170,323 US dollars.

In 2021, anti-organized crime police carried out 1,633 operative actions, as well as 574 large-scale actions that saw 5,328 home searches and 2,124 people being detained. At the same time, 1,566 persons were put in pre-trial detention and court supervision was ordered for 865 persons. AGERPRES