58 people arrested and 48 weapons seized within framework of operation in Western Balkans, coordinated by EMPACT from Firearms, and headed up by Spain

The operation was coordinated by EMPACT from Firearms, headed up by Spain, and included the participation of EUROPOL, FRONTEX and the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) together with the police forces of 17 countries (Albania, Belgium, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Greece, Montenegro, Holland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States, through the ATF.

Spain heads up the fight against arms trafficking at a European level, one of the priorities in the European Union fight against crime in Europe during the 2014-2017 cycle. This project is exercised by a task force made up of the National Police, the Guardia Civil and the Customs and Special Taxes Department of the Spanish Tax Agency (Spanish acronym: AEAT).

The EMPACT (European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats) from Firearms, together with EUROPOL, coordinated all the participating police forces in this operation, with continuous exchanges of information on people and vehicles subject to inspection at border controls, tracing the weapons seized and adding important information to the investigations already under way. The participating countries exchanged information on more than 246,000 entities, 219,000 people and 14,800 vehicles.

As a result of the operation, 48 weapons were seized, together with 833 cartridges, four hand grenades and close to 500 grams of plastic explosives in different countries in the Western Balkans. Furthermore, drugs were seized in four countries: 505 Kg of marihuana and 53 ecstasy pills (MDMA) and the smuggling of other goods was also avoided, such as 765 packs of cigarettes. A stolen vehicle was also seized. In total, 58 people were arrested in the countries comprising the Western Balkans and another 127 people were prevented from entering the European Union.

During the operation, a significant volume of information was exchanged thanks to the management of EMPACT for Firearms, the excellent cooperation between participating countries and the support of the European agency FRONTEX, and, in particular, EUROPOL, whose experts facilitated the exchange of information in real time and the analysis of the information gathered.

The European agency FRONTEX provided officers on the ground at different border points in the Western Balkans. This action formed part of the 'Joint Action Days in the Western Balkans' project, within the framework of the 2017 Operational Action Plan of EMPACT for Firearms.