Proposed innovative list of national priorities in the fight against crime

The Bureau for Operational Coordination (BOK) proposed to the journalist a list of national priorities in the fight against serious and organized crime, which includes the fight against the activities of high-risk organized criminal groups, drug trafficking and corruption.

The office of BOK coordinator Aleksa Bečić announced that the innovative list, whose proposal was determined at the session of that body, will be further considered and adopted by the National Security Council.

"The list includes the following areas: activities of high-risk organized criminal groups, drug smuggling, corruption with a special focus on high-level corruption, illegal migration and human trafficking, smuggling of excise goods," the statement said.

The list is said to include cybercrime, terrorism and extremism, violence and misuse of firearms.

The list also includes, as it is added, the new national priority of environmental crime, as a specific security challenge in Montenegro.

"Environmental crime during the previous period through the expansion of illegal activities in the areas of forest cutting, illegal construction and illegal exploitation of gravel from riverbeds, along with accompanying corrupt activities, caused not only economic, but also major environmental problems," the announcement says.

It is stated that these environmental problems had a significant impact on the devastation of the environment and the state of biodiversity.

Bečić's cabinet said that BOK verified the public version of the Mid-Term Review of the Risk Assessment of Serious and Organized Crime - SOCTA.

They reminded that SOCTA, after several months of dedicated work, formed an interdepartmental work team led by Acting Assistant Director of the Police Administration Lazar Šćepanović, who formed the BOK in December last year.

The public version of the Mid-Term Review of the Risk Assessment of Serious and Organized Crime, after technical preparations and necessary translations, will be published on the website of the Government of Montenegro.

The announcement states that BOK is also aware of the reports on the work of interdepartmental work teams, and the Bureau considered initiatives for the formation of new ones, as well as other issues within its jurisdiction.