IDEC XXXI: Alfano and Pansa's speeches
The XXXI International Drug Enforcement Conference (IDEC) is being held in Rome, from 17th to 19th June 2014. Italy has been actively participating in this international forum since 2001. IDEC is a yearly conference which focuses on coordinating drug enforcement policies and developing operational strategies, which can be used against international traffickers.
Police Chief Alessandro Pansa in his speech at the conference said: "For many years investigators have learned they have to follow the money related to organized crime, as financial flows will allow them to get to the top echelons of the criminal organizations. Today, Italians are probably the most successful in seizing criminal assets". Prefect Pansa continued: "In recent years, we have been able to seize billions in criminal assets derived from illegal activity, thanks to our legislation, expertise and working methods".
"For this reason, we are committed to fighting drug trafficking and its financial implications and we will do our best to develop operational cooperation in different sectors with our colleagues from all IDEC countries. We will work on multiple fronts but first of all we must find out where criminals hide their wealth, how they transport their money and drugs around the world and how they insert the profits from selling drugs into the international financial circuits, exploiting also the large computer networks covering the whole country."
Interior Minister Angelino Alfano in his closing speech said: "The total turnover of the drug industry amounts to $ 320 billion. This huge figure makes it clear that it is not only a transnational public security issue, but a far more dangerous issue related to the relationships between organized crime and the destabilization of entire nations, not to mention the use of drug trade as a means to finance terrorism."
Minister Alfano added: "Italy has always been on the front line to reduce both the demand and supply of drugs and to combat drug trafficking. In this connection, we believe that multilateral cooperation is crucial. Also at the European level, cooperation plays a fundamental role in the fight against drug trafficking. The exchange of drug experts and information sharing are essential, as well as more advanced forms of police cooperation as undercover operations or joint operations."
"There are three critical aspects in the fight against drug trafficking," Alfano said, "the first one has to do with the production of new psychoactive substances; the second issue is the role of Africa as the main crossroads of illicit trafficking and the major global market for drugs consumption; the third issue is the increase in drug trafficking by sea."
Minister Alfano concluded: "To address these critical issues, first of all we should have a greater number of data available on the drug issue as a whole, secondly we need to put in place a more systematic and targeted action tracking sales and shipments of all incoming illicit drugs, and finally we need to establish closer cooperation with the relevant national agencies."