SELEC (Southeast European Law Enforcement Center)

🎥 🎥 Day One Recap: 19th RAI Summer School for Junior Anti-Corruption Practitioners Day one of the 19th RAI Summer School kicked off with an amazing start! Participants from across Southeast Europe began the journey by getting to know each other, setting the stage for a week of learning and collaboration. Our esteemed experts from AML Consulting Global Ltd will be delivering insightful sessions throughout the week. The interactive and engaging discussions are fostering a strong foundation for future cooperation and success in anti-corruption efforts. This year's Summer School edition is hosted by SELEC (Southeast European Law Enforcement Center) and financially supported by the Central European Initiative - CEI. Stay tuned for more updates as we continue this enriching experience. 🌟 #SummerSchool #AntiCorruption #Networking #SoutheastEurope #corruption #regionalcooperation

SELEC is hosting the 19th Edition of the Summer School for Junior Anti-corruption Practitioners from South-East Europe organized by Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative Secretariat. This year’s edition is titled Unveiling Corruption: Introduction to Asset Recovery and Financial Investigation Techniques, and is taking place in Bucharest, Romania, from 11 to 14 June 2024. This Summer School aims to equip junior prosecutors, anti-corruption practitioners, and financial investigators from law enforcement agencies from Southeast Europe with the necessary knowledge and expertise in asset recovery. The programme's main objectives are to provide an overview of the current financial investigation and asset recovery landscape taking into account international best practices in respect of the investigation and prosecution of corruption-related offenses, current money laundering typologies, and international best investigative practice. Ms. Desislava Gotskova, LLM, Head of RAI Secretariat, and Oguz Serkant Akin, Director General of SELEC, addressed opening remarks, welcoming the participants at the SELEC Training Center, the venue of the event. RAI has been recently granted the status of Observer to SELEC. #anticorruption

Joint investigation code-named MIRAGE was initiated in 2022, concerning an organized crime group (OCG) formed by Moldovan and Romanian nationals involved in criminal scheme of trafficking of migrants. It was revealed that from 2019 until now, the OCG smuggled over 100 migrants to the Schengen Area. After exchanging information within operational meetings organized under umbrella of SELEC and with the support of Eurojust, the Romanian and Moldovan authorities set up a joint investigation team (JIT) to expose the OCG. The suspects included over 20 Romanian and Moldovan citizens organized in a criminal structure on hierarchical levels, acting on the territories of Romania and the Republic of Moldova with the aim of committing the crime of migrant trafficking. During the action days that took place on 16 May in Republic of Moldova and on 27 May 2024 in Romania, the law enforcement authorities were able to conduct 18 house searches, both on the territory of Republic of Moldova and Romania, and perform multiple interrogations of suspects, followed by the arrest of four drivers and their leader. It was found out that members of the criminal group purchased large-capacity vehicles to transport people originating from Afro-Asian countries across state borders to Western European countries. The investigations carried out revealed that the suspects claimed and received for each migrant amounts ranging between 3,000 - 5,000 euros, depending on the financial possibilities of the transported person and the country where the person intended to arrive. The routes followed by the members of the organized crime group to transport the migrants in Western European countries were: Greece – Bulgaria – Romania – Hungary – Austria, Greece – Bulgaria – Serbia or Croatia – Hungary – Austria. Following the searches, means of communication, documents and other evidence were identified and seized. #traffickingmigrants #organizedcrimegroup #organizedcrime #SELEC

During 11-14 of June 2024, SELEC is hosting the 19th edition of the Summer School for Junior Anti-Corruption Practitioners from Southeast Europe, event organized by the Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative, organization that has Observer status to #SELEC.

The 24th session of the SELEC Council was held on the 30th of May 2024 at the SELEC Headquarters in Bucharest/Romania, with the participation of the Council members from all SELEC Member States, Operational Partners, Observers as well as SELEC Management, Liaison Officers and members of the Staff. According to the alphabetical rotation procedure, the Chairmanship of the Council belonged to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the meeting being chaired by Mr. Sanjin ŠAKIĆ, Head of Department for International Cooperation, Ministry of Interior of Republic of Srpska. As 2024 marks SELEC’s 25th anniversary, Oguz Serkant Akin, Director General of SELEC, welcomed the participants and presented last year’s achievements, expressing appreciation for the contribution of all authorities and persons to the success of #SELEC. A video compiling all the congratulation messages (uploaded here: https://lnkd.in/dUnjksgE) received from the law enforcement authorities was presented, as well as the anniversary logos that participated at the logo competition launched by SELEC with this occasion. SELEC Report for 2023 was presented by Mrs. Tanja Levajkovikj, Director for Legal and Internal Affairs, and by Mr. Romulus Ungureanu, PhD, Director for Operations; the public version of this report being available here: https://lnkd.in/dte8PeEa Besides the budgetary issues, an important topic on the agenda of the session was the request of the National Bureau of Investigation of Albania to become SELEC’s Operational Partner, request that was endorsed by the Council. The Council is the highest decision-making body of SELEC consisting in high-level representatives of SELEC Member States.

On the 21st of May 2024, the 9th meeting of the SELEC Anti-Terrorism Task Force, coordinated by Republic of Türkyie, took place in Bucharest at the SELEC Headquarters.   Topics like international and/or domestic #terrorism threatening the social order and citizens’ safety in the Member States were approached by the participants, professionals from the Law Enforcement Agencies in the Southeast European region responsible for countering terrorism.   “Terrorist organizations are increasingly adopting advanced technologies to enhance their operations and evade detection. The use of new technologies by terrorist groups presents multifaceted challenges that require innovative and collaborative approaches from law enforcement agencies and intelligence units. By staying ahead of these technological advancements and leveraging our own cutting-edge tools, we can more effectively counter these evolving threats, including enhanced collaboration and intelligence sharing, training and capacity building and embracing and implementing the new technologies.” mentioned Mr. Romulus N. Ungureanu, SELEC Director for Operations .   During the active discussions and debates, countries representatives shared good practices, success stories, challenges and lessons learned which can be of reference for improvement and future actions. Operational partners like US Customs and Border Protection also attended the meeting contributing with their perspective upon how cooperation and information exchange could add value to the anti-terrorism efforts across the region and not only.   The overall aim of the national law enforcement authorities represented at the meeting was to enhance regional cooperation, as well as set the ground for further operational activities to be organized in a coordinated manner at regional level. The Anti-Terrorism Task Force was established in 2003, and has regular meetings fostered by #SELEC.

As a result of the operational meetings supported by #SELEC, as well as the exchanged information and the cooperation facilitated in the framework of SELEC, it was finalized joint investigation code-named "ANKH” that targeted dismantling an organized crime group dealing with illegal activities regarding cultural heritage items. Valuable information was exchanged during the operational meetings and joint actions were planned between the law enforcement officers of Bulgaria, Greece and North Macedonia. During the investigation, which lasted two years, three specialized police operations were conducted on the territory of Bulgaria. The first specialized police operation was in connection with operational information received by police officers of the Hellenic Republic that a Bulgarian citizen who is illegally involved in the trafficking of cultural values is offering for sale on Greek auction sites religious objects and coins. The individual was identified, detained and his address was searched. As a result, were seized a medieval cross from the 17th century / worth 400 euros / as well as 16 ancient coins. After exchanging information with the Greek police authorities, two other members of the criminal group under investigation were detained. During the house searches, 445 objects having the characteristics of movable cultural property and around 160 coins were found and seized. Also, following the information exchange with the police authorities from North Macedonia, in March 2024, a third large-scale specialized police operation was conducted on the territory of Bulgaria, 14 addresses being searched, 11 persons were detained and 550 objects having characteristics of movable cultural property were found and seized (helmets, antique gold jewelry, fibulae, coins, pottery, marble plates, medieval bracelets, a/o). 

On the 9th of May 2024, in Athens, in the framework of the Greek Chairmanship of SEEPAG took place the 34th SEEPAG Conference, having as topic “Joint investigation teams- Practical implementation and outcomes, latest trends and developments”. The event gathered prosecutors from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Republic of Moldova, Montenegro, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, Republic of Türkiye, United Kingdom, United States of America and representatives of SELEC, European Judicial Network, Guardia di Finanza, UNODC ROSEE. Opening remarks were addressed by the Secretary General of Hellenic Ministry of Justice, Mr. Panos Alexandris, the Deputy General Prosecutor of Hellenic Republic, Mr. Konstantinos Tzavellas, Mr. Panagiotis Maniatis, SEEPAG Chairperson, Mr. Oguz Serkant Akin, Director General of SELEC and Mrs. Tanja Levajkovikj, Director for Legal and Internal Affairs of SELEC. During the conference the participants presented their national legislation, cases, various aspects related to the practical implementation of #JITs, the benefits of establishing JITs, the outcomes, and the problems encountered. #SELEC #jointinvestigationteams

On the 8th of May 2024, the SELEC Management visited the Hellenic Police where they met Mr. Dimitrios Mallios, the Chief of the Hellenic Police, and Mr. Christos Tsitsimpikos, Head of International Police Cooperation Division. The parties exchanged views on possibilities to enhance the cooperation, Mr. Oguz Serkant Akin, Director General of SELEC, expressing the appreciation for the latest joint investigations conducted in the framework of SELEC, and the active role of the Liaison Officer posted at SELEC Headquarters. In the same day, the Director of Division of Strategy of Customs Controls and Offences, Mr. Angelos Lymperis, welcomed the members of the SELEC Management at the Customs Headquarters in Athens, in order to discuss the potential activities to be conducted in the framework of the Container Security Task Force coordinated by Greece. #SELEC

2024 marks SELEC's 25th anniversary. A new section on the SELEC website, containing congratulation video messages received from our Member States, the proposals received following our logo contest and some milestones from the existence of SECI Center-SELEC, was created and launched: https://lnkd.in/dT-4VMpD "We are looking forward to more achievements in the years to come, and we thank everybody who contributed throughout the years to the success of #SELEC"- Oguz Serkant Akin, Director General of SELEC