Stefanovic: 123 cases of trafficking discovered

BELGRADE - The Serbian police discovered 123 cases of human trafficking between May and October this year, Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said on Wednesday.

The number of detected cases of trafficking was 38.2 percent higher than in the same period last year, he said at a meeting of the parliamentary committee on defence and interior affairs.

Registered juvenile crimes were at 3020, or 30.2 percent less than between May and October 2013. "The share of juvenile crime in overall crime dropped from 7.8 to 6 percent," he noted, adding that 1,691 minors had been reported for crimes, a 29.5 percent reduction.

According to Stefanovic, significant results were achieved in controlling the flow of goods that are subject to excise taxes, with 27,272 cartons of cigarettes and almost 21 t of tobacco seized.

Traffic safety also showed positive statistical tendencies, but the police will continue activities towards prevention and education to improve the situation further, he stated.

"All the statistical data show that we have improved, but we still get casualties... and we will have to work hard to change that," he said, adding that the entire society had to get involved.

Increased efforts by the traffic police resulted in 437,000 traffic violations detected from May to October this year, he remarked.

The traffic safety law will be made stricter in order to save more lives on the Serbian roads, he said.

His report on the Interior Ministry's activities this year included the fact that 31,897 members of the ministry were involved in the rescue efforts during the May floods in the country, with 25,000 being deployed to the Belgrade municipality of Obrenovac.

Photo Tanjug,...