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CNN World Report

International Law Enforcement Community Combats Organized Crime

Aired May 20, 2001 - 14:14   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ASIEH NAMDAR, CNN ANCHOR: Members of the international community are banding together in the fight against organized crime. Law enforcement officials say the problem is a global one, and they say the criminals are rapidly expanding their local networks into international operations.

Poland's TVP reports on how law enforcement agencies from several nations are mobilized.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA GRAD, TVP CORRESPONDENT: Police officers from the United States, Russia, Germany, Italy, France, Israel and 30 other countries convened in Warsaw to discuss ways of coping with organized crime. One law enforcement officer says crime, like the economy, has been globalized.

ANDRZEJ ZAWITKOWSKI, POLISH LAW ENFORCEMENT (through translator): There are a lot of trades which lead from overseas to here.

GRAD: It is no secret to these people that the Italian mafia chose Poland as the place to launder its money. Meanwhile, Turkish gangsters are developing the drug market in Poland, and some Vietnamese crime families have their European bridge here also. All of them have found eager partners in the powerful Pruszkow family, so named after the Warsaw suburb where they began.

ADAM RAPACKI, POLISH POLICE (through translator): Pruszkow gang has sent delegations as far as South America, where they have to organize drug transfers to Europe. Pruszkow has also invested in the United States, and has its delegates in Austria, Spain and many other European states.

GRAD: One year ago, a special police unit was created in Poland to fight organized crime. Since then, agents have jailed 158 gang members, a big success, but police admit that new gangs are forming all the time. Officers estimate there could be as many as 320 families in Poland, each numbering 700 soldiers.

MAREK BIERNACKI, MINISTER OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS (through translator): First of all, we have to do away with the economic basis of the organized crime. This is the very precondition of any successful (UNINTELLIGIBLE), and we are determined to do so. GRAD: The mobsters use many tricks to hide their money. While Italian money is laundered in Poland, Polish mobsters transfer their funds abroad for the same purpose. That is why the central bureau of investigation has established a special task force to track and expose the finances of the mob, one of the main topics at the Warsaw conference.

This report was prepared by Barbara Grad of Polish Television for the CNN WORLD REPORT.

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