The commercial seaports of South-Eastern Europe are centers of trade and illicit trade in cocaine and heroin. Drugs shipped mainly from Latin America are often found in containers of fresh fruit, especially bananas, according to a new report by the Global Organized Crime Initiative looking at sea routes in the Balkans. Huffington Post Greecequoted by Rador.

Seizures of large quantities of cocaine, usually hidden in banana crates, in ports such as Durres (Albania), Ploce and Rijeka (Croatia) and Thessaloniki have raised suspicions that ports in south-eastern Europe are becoming increasingly attractive to traffickers.

The situation has been complicated by large seizures of heroin in the ports of Constanta (Romania), Koper (Slovenia) and Varna (Bulgaria), as well as the long-standing problem of cigarette smuggling, particularly through the ports of Bar (Montenegro). and Piraeus (Greece).

The study warns that more than 100 ports in South-East Europe and 12 container terminals are used as key entry and exit points for the illegal trade, which is widespread in the Adriatic, Aegean, Black, Ionian and Danube seas. River.

“The region’s proximity to the lucrative markets of Western Europe, the region’s connections to North Africa and Turkey, and increased traffic from Latin America and Asia, combined with vulnerabilities related to corruption, create ideal conditions for criminal networks to engage in such human trafficking . “, – says the report of the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) released on Tuesday.

In the period from 2018 to 2021, about eight tons of cocaine were seized in the ports of Southeast Europe, the report states. Opiates and synthetic drugs, mainly heroin, coming through Turkey and the Middle East are regularly seized by authorities, particularly at regional ports.

“Smuggling routes appear to have changed due to measures taken to reduce migrant flows and COVID, as well as large cocaine seizures in Belgium and the Netherlands; and the disruption caused by the war in Ukraine is prompting traffickers to seek alternative routes,” said Walter Kemp, co-author of the report.

“Some ports appear to be home to criminal gangs that operate as part of wider transnational networks.

Several ports are magnets for organized crime, attracting not only local criminal groups, but also those from mainland countries that need access to the sea,” says Ruggero Scaturro, lead author of the report.

About 80% of all goods sold worldwide are shipped by sea, most often in containers. According to the report, only 2-3% of these containers are regularly inspected, making them the preferred vehicle for transporting bulk cargo in the Balkans.

Cigarettes and tobacco, especially through Greece and Montenegro, waste, especially through Black Sea ports, and weapons are among the illegal goods transported by sea.

However, despite the large seizures, there have not been many arrests of major traffickers along this route. “This shows either a failure to investigate or a protective umbrella covering illegal activities in some Balkan ports.”

The study examines nine ports along the Balkan Sea Route and shows how investment in port infrastructure can be linked to money laundering and corruption, demonstrating the link between trading posts and organized crime.

Some of these ports, due to weak management and their geographical location, are crime magnets. Others, on the other hand, are safe havens not only for criminals, but also for “political and business elites who provide protection and profit from smuggling, including through money laundering,” the report said.

Authorities in Southeast Europe have made great efforts in recent decades to combat such threats using International Ship and Port Security (ISPS) measures, but there are still gaps, such as insufficient scanners and the temptation of corruption in some ports, the Geneva-based non-governmental the organization also notes.

Some proposals to reduce criminal activity in Balkan ports and improve cross-border cooperation aim to strengthen local investigative capabilities, develop port liaison officers to strengthen security networks, improve transnational law enforcement networks and invest in new technology.