In 2021, the State Police launched an ambitious project “Developing and applying innovative proactive tools to fight drug trafficking organizations in EU Member States” or “project FIDR”. Since the implementation of the project, several international investigations and operations have been carried out in connection with the illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs, money laundering, and other criminal offenses that have enabled criminal networks to be identified and illegal cash flows to be highlighted. Most European countries and US law enforcement authorities are currently involved in the project and it was launched on the initiative of Latvia, which is also the leading state of the project, while the accredited partners are the Lithuanian Criminal Police Office and the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board.
The main objective of the FIDR project is to offer the Member States of the European Union an innovative and proactive method, and up-to-date technical solutions, at the same time to save financial and human resources to effectively fight organized criminal groups at national, regional, and transnational levels, including the identification and elimination of transit routes, the elimination of narcotic and psychotropic batches, the identification and dismantling of money laundering mechanisms and, ultimately, the prosecution of perpetrators under the statutory responsibility.
"This project started only with an idea and a limited number of countries involved, but gradually more partners from different countries and law enforcement authorities joined the project. Since the launch of the project, results have already been seen and new techniques have been introduced to combat organized crime: international operations have been carried out, technical means have been purchased and training has been carried out, with a significant strengthening of operational cooperation. The FIDR project is practical support for the Member States and it can be assured that, despite previous restrictions and challenges of the COVID pandemic, it is being successfully implemented to achieve the initial objectives," states the Head of the project, Deputy Chief of the State police Main Criminal Police Department Andrejs Siņavins.
Last year, at the operational conference of the FIDR project in Europol, in The Hague, Latvian representatives, together with the participating Member States, European and US law enforcement authorities and the European Public Prosecutor's Office, and in cooperation with Europol and Eurojust, looked back on their work during the year, including discussing the need to further develop innovative instruments in the fight against high-risk profiles in the area of crime, seek financing opportunities for the application of these instruments, including the implementation of these practices in the operation of Europol.
Until now, multiple international investigations have been launched and numerous international operations have been carried out which have enabled criminal networks to be identified and illegal cash flows to be highlighted. International operations and other project activities are coordinated jointly in cooperation with project partners - Lithuania and Estonia and with the support of Europol. A draft manual shall be drawn up and presented to the Member States during the project. It aims to gather the experience of the Member States of the European Union and other countries in the organization of special operations. It is intended to support practitioners of all countries in the pursuit of these special operations.
The project has acquired modern and innovative technical equipment that is available to the project Member States as needed. At the same time, specialized training of experts was organized in Latvia to work with the FIDR project's special equipment. It should be noted that in the second half of 2022, Latvian law enforcement authorities carried out a series of internationally significant operations using this special technical equipment. One of the following cases is the international operation that took place last year, in which more than 100 persons were arrested in Latvia and Lithuania on suspicion of the implementation of fraud schemes.
In assessing the progress made in the project, representatives of the European and US law enforcement authorities (police, prosecutor's office), Europol, and the European Commission greatly assessed the contribution of the FIDR project. Europol's representatives at the conference indicated that, in a future perspective, the result of the FIDR project should become a central stop point where practitioners can exchange knowledge, legal perspectives, and operational information to coordinate and deepen their activities in the fight against organized crime. Europol and other countries have also been approved to continue supporting this project and to engage in its activities so that further international instruments examined in practice are integrated into Europol's practice, and the European Commission could allocate funding available to Member States of the European Union that is appropriate for that purpose.
The FIDR project shall continue to play an active role in planning and coordinating the follow-up. The FIDR project is planned to conclude with a conference inviting representatives of the European and US law enforcement authorities, the Prosecutor's Office, the European Union agencies, and the European Commission to examine the results of the FIDR project. The date of the event will be specified.
“Development and application of innovative proactive tools to combat drug trafficking organizations in EU Members”, or “Project FIDR”, was launched on the basis of the Grant Agreement concluded by the Internal Security Fund for the 2014-2020 program, in the framework of police cooperation between the State Police and the European Commission. The deadline for the project is three years and will expire in 2024. The budget envisaged is almost €650 thousand.
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