Balkans’ police meet on organized crime

SOFIA, Bulgaria, March 6 – Police chiefs of eight Balkan countries met in Bulgaria Tuesday to discuss cooperation in fighting organized crime. Bulgarian Police Chief Krasimir Petrov said they had formed the association of police chiefs of southeast Europe to deal with groups of criminals in the Balkans that are closely cooperating, particularly in drug trafficking. Police cooperation of the Balkan countries apart from preventing drug smuggling is also focused on stopping human, arms and stolen vehicle trafficking. In a recent U.S. Department of State annual report on smuggling narcotics, Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Serbia were named as major transit points for transferring heroin to Western Europe. Member countries of the Balkan police association are Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia. Greece, Moldavia and Turkey were also invited to join the Balkan police association.