The Hague, 14 June 2019

​The French and Romanian authorities, in close cooperation with Eurojust and Europol, dismantled an organised group (OCG) involved in the trafficking of 13 female victims for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Eurojust actively supported the joint action day, which led to the arrest of 13 suspects, including one of the main leaders of the OCG, and 15 house searches. Coordinated by Eurojust, the national authorities seized 2 luxury cars, 14 mobile phones and 18 SIM cards, as well as 2 computers, jewelry and cash. The estimated total value of the criminal proceeds is €1.2 million. Eurojust facilitated the issuing of European Arrest Warrants by the French authorities, which were executed in Romania, Germany and Italy. Eurojust helped to resolve another case of sexual abuse last week.

In the last three years, women and girls recruited from Romania were victimised by alleged boyfriends and sexually exploited in France and several other EU Member States. The members of the OCG, most of whom are repeat offenders, are accused of having committed the crimes of trafficking in human beings for the purpose of sexual exploitation, participation in a criminal organisation, as well as pimping and money laundering.

The Specialised Jurisdiction (JIRS) of Rennes and the Craiova Territorial Office of the Directorate for the Investigation of Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) initiated parallel national investigations into the OCG. To avoid potential conflicts of jurisdiction, Eurojust held two coordination meetings to exchange crucial information on the case and agree on a clear prosecutorial strategy. Eurojust also helped the national authorities by swiftly executing mutual legal assistance (MLA) requests between various Member States and actively following up on their execution. National authorities from Hungary and Slovakia were involved in the search of one of the suspects, enabling the Italian authorities to arrest him.

To advance the national investigations, a joint investigation team (JIT) was set up, which was financially and logistically supported by Eurojust. Europol participated in the JIT, providing analytical support to the authorities, and assisted the police operations during the joint action day. 150 French officers from the Gendarmerie of Rennes and 60 Romanian officers from the Craiova Brigade for Combating Organised Crime, as well as the Craiova Mobile Gendarmerie and Special Action Service, were deployed during the simultaneous operations.

Photo © DIICOT – Poliția Română

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An external evaluation of the EMCDDA, new products and services, and support to policy and practice in the fields of health and security are among the features presented in the latest General Report of Activities published today by the agency. The report, covering key achievements and governance in 2018, presents the implementation of the EMCDDA work programme activities over the 12-month period.

The year 2018 was one in which the value that the agency brings to its stakeholders and key partners was further confirmed. An external evaluation of the EMCDDA, carried out by the European Commission (EC) and presented to the EMCDDA Management Board in December 2018, concluded that the agency is performing very well, delivers excellent outputs and has a high reputation at both European and international levels. The agency will closely follow up on the recommendations of the evaluation to guide its future activities and remain policy relevant and structurally fit to respond to stakeholder needs.

The most tangible results of the agency’s work are its publications. In 2018, 45 scientific and corporate publications, in addition to 30 Country Drug Reports, were released, including seven joint publications produced with EU agencies or international organisations. The EMCDDA’s annual overview of the drug situation, in the form of its flagship European Drug Report, was launched in Brussels in June by European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos and by EMCDDA Director, Alexis Goosdeel.

Policy and practice relevance were at the core of the agency’s work throughout the year. The EMCDDA provided services to its three main customer groups: EU institutions; national policymakers in the EU Member States; and professionals working in the drugs field. Here it contributed to major EU drug policy documents, through technical support to EU institutions, and, overall, contributed to around 300 drug-related scientific, policy and practice events. The agency disseminated best practice, held training sessions and undertook capacity-building activities to share knowledge in 2018. Its cannabis policy news service continued to provide regular alerts to its policy audience and its audience doubled in 2018.

A three-year initiative with the purpose of promoting hepatitis C testing among people who inject drugs (PWID) in drug treatment settings was launched mid-year. This reflected an operationalisation of a central EMCDDA public health priority, as defined in the agency’s Strategy 2025.

The agency’s role in coordinating the EU Early Warning System (EU EWS) on new psychoactive substances was also strengthened in 2018 as a result of the application (on 23 November) of a new legal framework. This framework provides the EMCDDA with increased responsibilities and new formal partnerships with other EU agencies, and it amends its Founding Regulation (recast). The EWS was formally notified for the first time of 55 NPS during the year, bringing the total number of NPS currently monitored to around 730.

The EU Member States are among the agency’s core partners, particularly the Reitox national focal points (NFPs), its main data providers. 2018 was the first year of implementation of the Reitox Development Framework, adopted by the heads of the NFPs in 2017, and much of the agency’s efforts were focused on supporting the NFPs in this endeavour.

Finally, a key development in working with partners was the signing of a grant agreement between the EC and the EMCDDA to implement, from January 2019, a new technical cooperation project for European Neighbourhood Policy partner countries. Entitled ‘EU4 Monitoring Drugs’, this will be the largest technical cooperation project carried out so far by the agency.

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