Border Police Head: 4,600 tonnes of waste, confiscated since year beginning

Border policemen have managed to confiscate since the beginning of the year over 4,600 tonnes of waste, as part of some operations carried out with the Environmental Guard - the Directorate of Customs, Border Police Inspectorate General (IGPF) Head, chief police quaestor Liviu Bute informed on Thursday. "We notice a significant increase in several specific indicators for the Border Police. In the first six months of this year, we had an over 50 percent increase in the total number of crimes detected in the Border Police competence area, as against the similar period last year. I am referring to the illegal border crossing and illegal border crossing attempts, migrant trafficking, smuggling. Moreover, the expanding trend of activities in the area of illegal waste transport has also been noted. Since the beginning of the year, the border policemen have intervened in 106 cases, having managed to confiscate over 4,600 tonnes of waste, either in to the point interventions or as part of some wide operations carried out in collaboration with the National Environmental Guard and the Directorate General of Customs," Liviu Bute told a ceremony organised on the Day of the Border Police. During the event, it was announced that Interior Minister Lucian Bode approved the promotion to a superior rank before the ending of the minimum internship phase for 180 border policemen for special merits proven in the operation missions. Furthermore, a donation from British American Tobacco, consisting of 250 surveillance cameras with movement sensors, was also announced, Liviu Bute having said that these cameras would be the third eye of the Border Police. AGERPRES (RO - author: Eusebi Manolache, editor: Claudia Stanescu; EN - editor: Adina Panaitescu)