Bosnia and Herzegovina has been participating in the PANGEA international operational action for many years, which is coordinated by the General Secretariat of INTERPOL Lyon. Namely, in the period from 23.06. to 30.06.2022, an operational action codenamed "PANGEA XV" was carried out on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Apart from the Directorate – The Department of NCB INTERPOL Sarajevo, which was acting as coordinator/single point of contact, in the action also participated the Prosecutor's Office of B&H, the State Agency for Investigation and Protection, the Border Police of B&H, the Directorate for Indirect Taxation of B&H, the Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices of B&H, B&H Agency for antidoping control, Federal Administration for Inspection Affairs, Inspectorate of Republika Srpska, Inspectorate of Government of Brčko District, Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska, Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs of B&H, Police of Brčko District of B&H, MoI of Canton 10 Livno, MoI of Tuzla Canton, MoI of Central - Bosnia Canton, MoI of Bosnia-Podrinje Canton, MoI of Posavina Canton-Orašje, MoI of Zenica-Doboj Canton, MoI Police Department-Sarajevo, MoI of Una-Sana Canton, MoI of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, MoI of West Herzegovina Canton.
Trafficking counterfeit and illicit medical products is a truly global criminal phenomenon that affects all countries of origin, transit or destination. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the production, trafficking and distribution of counterfeit, stolen, diverted and illicit drugs and medical devices.
Taking into account the above facts, the operational action "PANGEA XV" was carried out at the initiative of the General Secretariat of INTERPOL Lyon and was implemented in INTERPOL member countries in cooperation with police agencies, customs and health authorities and resulted in the seizure of more of 3 million units of illegal and falsified drugs and medical devices, closure of more than 4000 websites for sale, more than 600 new investigations were opened and more than 200 arrest warrants were issued, the activities of at least 36 organized crime groups in the world were disrupted and about 11 million dollars value of potentially dangerous drugs/medical devices were seized.
The global trade in illegal medical preparations is a huge and lucrative area of crime - estimated at 4.4 billion dolars that attracts organized crime groups around the world.
In the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the implementation of the pre-operational phase, as well as the operational action itself, a large amount of undeclared goods from the therapeutic groups of analgesics/antipyretics/opiates and preparations for the treatment of erectile dysfunction in a significant monetary value originating from China, Serbia, India, USA and others was found and seized.
With the implementation of operation "PANGEA XV", certain goals were achieved, especially in terms of raising public awareness regarding the problem of selling illegal drugs and medical devices via the Internet, and improving cooperation between competent agencies dealing with this issue.
The Directorate for the Coordination of Police Bodies of B&H thanks all the institutions in B&H whose members participated in the preparation and implementation of this operational action and emphasizes its readiness to further continuously undertaking measures and actions within its jurisdiction with the aim of suppressing criminal acts and offences from this area of crime.