JusMin: Criminal groups must be hit where hurts them the most, in their money flows

The Minister of Justice, Stelian Ion, on Friday, on the occasion of the presentation of DIICOT's (Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism) activity report for 2020, that criminal groups "must be hit where hurts them the most, where the money is." "We must work to block the flow of money and then to recover the damage and the proceeds of crime because criminal groups must be hit where hurts them the most, where the money is," said Stelian Ion, quoted in a statement sent to AGERPRES by the Ministry of Justice. The Minister also said that a very good measure is the establishment of a structure to combat human trafficking, "a scourge that has spread in recent years and must be combated with all available means." "In addressing the causes of human trafficking, but also drug trafficking and cybercrime we must take into account the money laundering component, which is a natural continuation of the activity of some criminal groups that obtain income from these crimes," added Stelian Ion. The Minister recommended that money laundering be provided as an operational priority, pointing out that Romanian criminals and the groups they belong to, which operate in the European space and beyond, send money to the country to be "laundered." "All this money and goods that are purchased must be subject to measures of unavailability and, subsequently, of confiscation," the minister said. AGERPRES (RO - author: Mihai Stoica, editor: Florin Marin, EN - author: Cristina Zaharia)