Tobacco, document fraud, migrant, and weapon smuggling at the external borders of the EU were all targets of a concerted multinational operation led by Frontex, the agency said in a press release.
Joint Action Days (JAD) Finestra 2 was an operation that took place in December 2022 and was jointly led by the governments of Romania and Moldova. OLAF, INTERPOL, SELEC, EUROPOL, and the Southeast European Law Enforcement Center (EU’s Anti-Fraud Office) were among the other organizations that joined the effort. In Chisinau, Moldova, a center for collaboration was established with officials from participating nations.
The initiative had a number of objectives, including identifying the criminal organizations responsible for smuggling excise goods, particularly tobacco products, combating cross-border crime, including migrant smuggling and related document fraud, strengthening cooperation between EU Member States and other participating countries, and exchanging best practices between participants and national organizations of each participating country.
The operation netted the police 2.3 million cigarettes, almost 3 tonnes of raw tobacco, 15 forged passports, the identification of 40 people traffickers, and the arrest of 2 individuals sought by INTERPOL.
Law enforcement officials also discovered illegally obtained guns, fireworks, fake items, anabolic steroids, narcotics, and a number of stolen automobiles.
The initiative was carried out as part of EMPACT, the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats, which addresses the biggest dangers that organized and severe international crime poses to the EU.
EMPACT improves coordination among foreign partners, EU institutions and agencies, and national authorities in the areas of intelligence, strategy, and operations. In four-year cycles, EMPACT focuses on shared EU crime concerns.
