The European Union’s police service has announced cases of arms trafficking on the black market. In addition, weapons, according to Europol, are brought across the border by Ukrainian refugees.
Criminal networks are involved in smuggling “significant quantities of firearms and ammunition” from Ukraine to European Union countries. This is stated in a confidential report of the European Union Police Service (Europol), sent to the Council of the EU, said the German public law media company SWR.
The report contains information about the consequences of the war in Ukraine and terrorist threats to the European Union.
According to these data, law enforcement officials are aware of several cases when individuals tried to leave Ukraine with firearms. The police service also suggests that hiding places have been set up along the Ukrainian border with the EU to organize smuggling.
According to Europol, some of the countries that have received large numbers of refugees fear that some of them are carrying guns for self-defense. Police also suspect that some Ukrainians have brought weapons across the border to sell or trade for goods or services. In particular, cases were reported when weapons could “pay” for taxi riders.
Weapons from Ukraine on the black market
Europol spokesman Jan Op Gen Oort told dpa that there were cases of trade in firearms and other military goods from Ukraine on the black market. The law enforcement agencies of individual EU states do not exempt the trade in heavy weapons. “There is a risk that it will fall into the hands of organized criminal groups or terrorists,” – said the representative of Europol.
On the darknet, according to him, the British Javelin man-portable anti-aircraft missile system was put up for sale. At the same time, Europol does not exclude that such proposals may be “part of Russian propaganda to generate a negative attitude towards the supply of Western weapons.”
German Left Party MEP Ezlem Demirel expressed concern that weapons supplied to Ukraine by the Bundeswehr could also illegally enter the EU or end up on the black market. Deputy Chairman of the faction Soyuz-90/green in the Bundestag, Konstantin von Notz expressed the opinion that it is necessary to introduce effective control over the use of weapons to prevent smuggling.
The EU fears that the mafia is armed with weapons from Ukraine
Earlier, the European Commissioner for Internal Affairs, Ylva Johansson, reported on the EU’s fears that the mafia and various criminal groups would gain access to weapons from Ukraine, as happened during the military conflict in Yugoslavia. To prevent the growth of organized crime, the European Commission, together with the Moldovan authorities, launched a support center for internal security and border management of the republic.
“Russia’s war of aggression has led to an increase in internal security threats both in the EU and in Moldova. Due to its geographical location, Moldova must play an important role in managing criminals and the consequences of security of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine,” the European Commission said.
Source: DW
Earlier, NATO said it was confident in the safety of weapons supplied to Ukraine. Therefore, the Alliance commented on the information that appeared in the media about the alleged smuggling of weapons from the allies.
It can be recalled that the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC), together with the Ministry of Defense, launched a new module of the SOTA information and analytical system to monitor the supply of Western weapons.
Earlier, the defense minister said that the Ukrainians are interested in keeping the full range of weapons provided by the Western allies.
Source: korrespondent
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