Baltic Sea Task Force on Organised Crime meeting in Riga

On 10-11 May 2018 representatives of 9 CBSS Member States, Europol, the Baltic Sea Region Border Control Cooperation (BSRBCC) and the CBSS Secretariat, represented by the Senior Adviser Janusz Gąciarz, participated in the Operational Planning and Coordination Meeting (OPC) within the Baltic Sea Task Force on Organized Crime (BSTF) in Riga, Latvia.

The participants discussed the following issues: illicit drug trafficking and illegal immigration (with an overview of two operations: FOUR SEASONS – led by Latvia and URSUS – led by Finland) as well as customs operations against smuggling of alcohol and tobacco.  Information about ongoing and future activities of the SOCEF project (led by the Latvian Police) and the future of the OPC meetings were also discussed.

All delegations gave a report on the latest developments in the fight against organised crime, with the focus on bilateral and multilateral cooperation within the Baltic Sea Region, joint operations and mutual support in investigations.

The Latvian BSTF Presidency informed that the talks on the future function of the BSTF were concluded successfully. The BSTF Presidency for 2019-20 will be taken over jointly by Germany and Poland. The formulation of this presidency will be “German strategic presidency with Polish support on the operational level”. One strategic meeting and two OPC meetings per year will be held during that period.

CBSS Secretariat is ready to continue cooperation with the Latvian Chairmanship and the upcoming BSTF chairmanship in facilitating the best formats for cooperation in combating major crime threats in the BSR.