The customs officials, responsible for overseeing Kosovo’s border with
“The officials were arrested for abusing their positions, for accepting bribes and bribing others…with the complicity of organized crime,” police spokesman Veton Elshani told reporters. Elshani said more arrests are expected.
The arrests come only weeks after the EU Rule of Law mission (EULEX) in Kosovo announced it would renew measures to combat fuel smuggling across Kosovo’s northern border with
The EU’s efforts to curb fuel smuggling in northern Kosovo have stalled pending Serb support. After Kosovo declared independence this past February, Serbs destroyed two UN-run border checkpoints.
Since then, the checkpoints have remained unregulated as the UN sought to avoid provoking further violence. The EULEX mission is set to replace the UN (which last month announced it would reduce personnel by 70%) by December, yet its jurisdiction remains ambiguous.
After a meeting on Monday in Brussels, the Foreign Ministers of the 27 EU member states issued a statement that
The statement, after a meeting of the General Affairs and External Relations Council, asks that the EU’s two newest member states make clear and quick reforms to their judicial and administrative systems to combat corruption, create efficient institutions and utilize large amounts of funding the EU has provided both countries.
The European Commission released highly critical monitoring reports on
The Olympics and Human Trafficking
In advance of the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games, the UK Government has launched a publicity campaign as part of its “Blue Blindfold” initiative against human trafficking.
The new measure seeks to raises awareness through posters distributed in pubs and nightclubs across
In recent years, cities hosting international sporting events such as the Olympics or the World Cup have seen dramatic increases in human trafficking. According to the Greek Ministry of Public Safety, human trafficking cases doubled during the 2004 Athens Games.
The trend concerns Canadian officials as they prepare for the 2010 Winter Olympics in
An annual report by the U.S. State Department on human trafficking published in June faulted
UNODC: Synthetic Drugs on Rise in Asia
The growing use of synthetic drugs such as amphetamines, methamphetamines and ecstasy in developing countries, particularly those in the Middle East and East and
The findings were part of the UNODC’s new Global Amphetamine-Type Stimulants Assessment Report for 2008. Amphetamine-Type stimulants, or ATS, are a class of synthetic drugs including methcathinone, fenetylline, ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, methylphenidate MDMA or ecstasy. The report also notes the emergence of new forms of synthetic drugs such as high purity crystalline methamphetamine.
Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of UNODC, presented the report in
While ATS use has leveled off or decreased in Europe and North America, the market has shifted, with the greater demand in
In a statement, the UNODC’s Jeremy Douglas said young people are particularly vulnerable to ATS Abuse.
Once considered a “cottage” industry because of the ready availability of the ingredients used in production, ATS production has grown and has led to the increased role of transnational organized crime groups that often control the entire process, from production to trafficking.
The UNODC said it would launch a program assisting governments in improving intelligence gathering on the use and trafficking in ATS.
"This should give us a better sense of how big the problem of synthetic drugs really is, and what more can be done to deal with it in terms of prevention, treatment and law enforcement," Costa said.
Soccer and the Mafia: More.
Rome police have arrested two men for the murder of Italian mid-fielder and World Cup winner Danielle De Rossi’s father-in-law, Massimo Pisnoli, in a suspected mafia hit.
Pisnoli, 48, was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head near Campoleone station on the outskirts of
The suspects were arrested in dawn raids at
Earlier this week
Pisnoli had previous convictions for robbery and theft and was known to move in underworld circles. His body was found in an area known as a home to clans from the Neapolitan Camorra and the Calabrian N’drangheta.
Beth Kampschror is away. The blog will continue, compiled by Sarajevo-based Michael Mehen.
