Romania: International Heroin Trafficking Group Busted

Published: 13 June 2012

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The Romanian Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) arrested three heroin traffickers Monday and seized 40 kilograms of heroin heading to the Austrian market. The anti-drug trafficking operation was conducted with the help of Bulgarian and Austrian authorities. According to the officials, the group’s leader is an Austrian citizen Nicole Smith. 

The suspects allegedly purchased the heroin in Turkey, and were transporting it to Austria through Romania. According to the authorities, this international organized crime group specializes in trafficking narcotics from Turkey into the countries of the European Union via heroin trafficking hubs that include Romania and Bulgaria. The heroin originally came from Afghanistan, the world’s primary opium producer.

The police made the arrest on a freeway between the Romanian capital of Bucharest and the town of Pitesti, northwest of the Bulgarian capital Sofia. The drugs were found in the trunks of two luxury cars driven by the suspects, and their market value is estimated at €2 million (US$2.5 million).

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), heroin produced in Afghanistan accounts for 90 percent of world’s heroin supply, and brings in around US$55 billion annually on the global market. Most of the financial value accrues outside of Afghanistan itself. About a third of all heroin produced in Afghanistan is shipped to Western Europe via the Balkan route.

The suspects were placed under 24 hour arrest, but the prosecutors will seek a 29 day detention while the investigation continues.