IDEC XXXI: Grasso's closing speech
The 31st International Drug Enforcement Conference ended on Thursday, June 19, 2014. It focused on international cooperation in the fight against drug trafficking and offered an interesting insight into drug policies adopted worldwide.
A great line-up of speakers attended the first day of IDEC: Interior Minister Angelino Alfano, Police Chief Alessandro Pansa, Chief of Operations of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration James L. Capra, and U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission in Rome Kathleen Doherty. The introductory speech was given by the Director of Antidrug Services, General Andrea De Gennaro.
Deputy Director of Operations at Europol Wil Van Gemert delivered his speech on the second day of the conference, which ended with the regional working groups sessions attended by the representatives of the 127 IDEC participating countries.
The Anti-Mafia National Prosecutor Franco Roberti addressed the audience in the morning session of the last conference day. After his speech, General De Gennaro expressed his satisfaction for the success of the meeting and introduced the President of the Senate of the Italian Republic Pietro Grasso (see video clip), who gave a final speech.
President Grasso's closing remarks
President Grasso observed that those who are involved in fighting organised crime and
drug trafficking must be aware that not only public order and the rule of law are at stake but also the stability of the planet, the survival of
democracy, the future of our children and our rights.
"Mafias" he added, " act as geopolitical actors, like States, as if they were holders of a real international power, of a military, political, economic and sometimes even cultural and social nature." He also mentioned that they initiate geopolitical processes and play a role in triggering conflicts, control territories, ousting legitimate powers and stifling the economy of entire nations.
Mentioning his thirty-year experience in the judiciary and in the fight against the Mafia, he reiterated his proposal to adopt a geopolitical approach in the fight against international trafficking, as it is now transnational in nature and strictly linked to factors influencing geopolitics.