The Diplomat in Spain

The Diplomat

The European Union Agency for Police Cooperation (Europol) has provided extra funding of more than one million euros to Spain to support transnational police operations against international organized crime.

As reported yesterday by the Ministry of the Interior, these funds will support the fight against trafficking in cannabis, heroin and cocaine, trafficking in human beings or the facilitation of illegal immigration, crimes against property or against the environment and illicit trafficking in firearms, among other crimes.

Spain is leading the way in obtaining funds from EMPACT, the European operational platform for combating the main criminal threats in the EU, whose priorities are set for four-year periods, as set out in the European Union Security Strategy and the EU Strategy against Serious and Organized Crime for 2022-2025. Ten crime priorities have been set for the new Policy Cycle 2022-2025. Spain will continue to exercise leadership in the fight against illicit trafficking of firearms and trafficking of cannabis, cocaine and heroin, through the active participation of components of the National Police, the Civil Guard and the State Agency of Tax Administration (AEAT), all supervised by the national coordinator EMPACT at national level, and by Europol at European level.

In 2021, the amount obtained by Spain exceeded one million euros. Thanks to the specialized technical equipment financed with these funds, the National Police and the Civil Guard were able to carry out more than twenty operations in 2021 within the framework of the Operational Action Plans of the EMPACT priorities. In these twenty operations – some of which remain open or are in progress – numerous arrests and seizures were made.

These funds are managed by the Intelligence Center against Terrorism and Organized Crime (CITCO), under the Ministry of Defense, by virtue of the agreement signed between the Secretary of State for Security of the Ministry of the Interior and the International Foundation for Ibero-American Public Administration and Policies (FIIAPP).

“The range of means acquired and the amounts obtained by Spain have been increasing every year, which demonstrates the active participation and good work being carried out, as a result of the excellent coordination between CITCO, the Civil Guard, the National Police and FIIAPP”, stated the director of CITCO and National EMPACT coordinator, Manuel Navarrete.