Embassy Press Release

REMARKS OF AMBASSADOR NICHOLAS F. TAUBMAN AT THE ROMANIAN BORDER POLICE

Bucharest, May 16, 2007

On behalf of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Chief General Inspector Nelu Pop of the Romanian Frontier Police for the opportunity to appear here today.

Representatives from DEA have been working with Romanian Authorities regarding a large-scale international heroin trafficking organization, whose leader was based in Bucharest, Romania. This organization is believed to be responsible for distributing hundreds of kilograms of heroin throughout the world.

The DEA has worked very closely with Romanian Authorities including the Romanian Public Prosecutor’s Office, as well as other foreign counterparts, to investigate this drug trafficking organization. This cooperation between DEA and Romanian Authorities has been nothing short of outstanding.

From the outset, Romanian Authorities openly exchanged sensitive information with the DEA and other foreign counterparts in order to investigate this drug trafficking organization, operating in Southwest Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the United States. Based largely on the investigative information generated by the Romanian Authorities, the investigation was expanded and eventually included twelve countries.

All of the law enforcement and intelligence agencies involved in this investigation worked tirelessly to gather, evaluate and provide actionable information to other counterparts. Usually this was accomplished within minutes of receiving the information, allowing for the most effective use of resources in order to achieve our common goal of investigating and dismantling this drug organization.

This case exemplifies what can be accomplished through the open exchange of law enforcement information and effective utilization of resources. I am confident that this investigation will be viewed as a model of a successful international law enforcement partnership and look forward to our continued cooperation and future successes.

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