Developments are taking place around the establishment of the Sub-Directorate for Combating Organized Crime, the so-called Cypriot FBI, which was announced around December last year.
The actions taken are continuous since the Minister of Justice and Public Order Kostas Fytiris wants to see the newly established unit work as soon as possible. Information from "F" states that the building in which the unit will be housed has been found and the preliminary agreements with a commercial bank have already been signed, while the agreement has also been put before the Council of Ministers. As soon as the matter gets a positive outcome, the renovation works of the building will begin to accommodate the needs of the new service.
At the same time, some people who will staff this special unit have recently moved and who are even working on dusting off some old cases. The fact that some of the persons who will staff the newly established service got a job was also confirmed by a Police official, while as "F" previously wrote, the most likely to be put in charge of it will be the current commander of the Anti-Drug Service (YKAN) Christos Andreou.
In any case, YKAN will be placed under the new service along with other departments related to the fight against crime or the collection and utilization of information. For the way this unit is set up and operated, know-how will be taken from the Greek model, which has enviable results to show. The Ministries of Justice and Citizen Protection in Cyprus and Greece respectively and the Police Authorities of the two countries are already in close cooperation on the issue, mainly regarding the way this unit operates, in order to bring results.
The decision to set up a unit that will deal exclusively with organized crime was taken during the ministry of Marios Hartsiotis after contacts he had with the Greek Minister of Citizen Protection, Michalis Chrysochoidis, who visited Cyprus, together with the head of the Greek FBI and had discussions on the issue.
The promotion of the idea and the implementation of the decision to set up a specialized unit against organized crime was undertaken by the current Minister of Justice, who from the beginning had set the fight against corruption and organized crime among his priorities and had contacts on this issue in Athens.
He also considered it imperative to set up a task force, i.e. a group that will deal exclusively with the fight against organized crime. As Mr. Fytiris has pointed out, in order to find the edges of organized crime, the investigators should follow the money, that is, where large sums of money are moved and how the factions acquire such great financial comfort.
Because organized crime acquires financial power through drug trafficking, protection and gambling, in addition to YKAN, the Information Management and Analysis Service (YDAP) will also be under the umbrella of this unit, while it will be strengthened with investigators from the TAE, the HEPO and people with specialized knowledge in finance, accounting, etc. The Service will also have direct contact with MOKAS for the immediate response when it comes to issuing freezing orders money and objects from illegal activities.
The problem in the fight against organized crime concerns the lack of a legislative framework for the surveillance of telephone conversations, something that other countries, as well as Greece, have in their quiver. Despite the huge effort to pass the relevant bills before the dissolution of Parliament, this was not achieved due to manipulations and the insistence of MPs not to approve provisions of the controversial bills. In the end, the service under establishment will be deprived of this weapon that could untie its hands and be one step ahead of the criminals.
It is estimated that the next few months will be decisive for the establishment and operation of the new service, while the government is willing to continue its efforts to pass legislation concerning telecommunications secrecy, so that under certain conditions phone surveillance will be allowed. Without this instrument, the results against organized crime will not be as expected.
