Anti-drug operations are becoming more effective across
the province.
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International agencies
fighting the drug trade are warning that Kosovo has become a
"smuggler's paradise", supplying up to 40 per cent of
the heroin sold in Europe and North America.
The province seems to be on the main route for heroin flowing
through some of the world's most troubled areas - Afghanistan,
northern Iran, the southern states of the Russian Federation,
Azerbaijan, Turkey - into western Europe and the US.
With the post-conflict situation and law enforcement
institutions still building up their structures, we can expect
the Kosovo narcotics business to grow. It is not an easy task to
combat organized crime in this region.
The dose of heroin.
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Everything is worked out
on the basis of the family or clan structure and it is almost
impossible to use informants. It is obvious that UNMIK Police
need specialized police units to crack the narcotics ring.
Unfortunately, there are not yet enough resources to establish
such teams.
Recently, new initiatives have been taken to improve police
activity in this field and have resulted in some success.
Anti-drug operations are becoming more effective across the
province. The latest successes have proven that co-operation and
coordination of different UNMIK organizations and units in this
matter is a key issue.
The suspect attempted to dispose of the evidence by
flushing it down the toilet, but was prevented from
doing so by the rapid actions of the police officers
involved.
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CIVPOL, KFOR, SPU planned
a joint operation, and on 18 January of this year, gained entry
into the suspect's house in Pristina, shortly before 23:00h.
The drugs had been hidden, and one of the suspect attempted to
dispose of the evidence by flushing it down the toilet, but was
prevented from doing so by the rapid actions of the police
officers involved. Two suspects have been arrested and sixty
five packets of heroin were seized during the police raid.
There were four different sizes. The "X" means
a 1 gram.
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The drugs were divided in
small doses. There were four different sizes. Four different
weights - 1 gram, 3/4 gram, 1/2 gram, ¼ gram. Each one was
marked out by the size and the markings on the paper. The
"X" being a 1 gram, the double slash "#" was
3/4, 1/2 gram being the single slash "/", 1/4 gram
being no markings at all.
In another case, UNMIK Police in Gnjilane identified a series of
petty thefts as involving young people who were stealing to
support their drug habits. As a result, there were approximately
twenty arrests in Gnjilane for possession of heroin during the
last quarter of 2000.
The UNMIK Police in Gnjilane are also attempting to establish
rehabilitation and counseling programs that will offer
alternatives to drug addicts.
Sixty five packets of heroin have been seized during the
police raid.
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