02
Overview of Serious Income-Generating Crime and Asset Recovery in the EaP Region
Heroin flows Ukraine ODESA
Moldova CONSTANSA
Romania
MARIUPOL
Russia
SEVASTOPOL
VARNA BURGAS
Bulgaria Greece
POTI
Georgia
BLACK SEA
Armenia BATUMI
SAMSUN ISTANBUL
TRABZON
Turkey
Azerbaijan Iran
EU4MonitoringDrugs (EU4MD) EU4MD is an EU-funded project that is managed by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). The goal of the project is to strengthen cooperation with and within countries in the EaP region, by supporting national authorities in their responses to drug-related issues.106 Beneficiary countries receive tailored training and capacity building, as well as detailed information and threat assessments on, for instance, the environmental effects of drug production, identification of hot spots, technological innovation and forensic analyses or trafficking maps.107 Clear and straightforward communication between both national authorities and relevant counterparts in other countries, is essential towards more precisely visualising drug routes and all connected phenomena, which can facilitate faster identification of hot spots and suspects.
Money Laundering Money laundering allows criminals to expand their operations, taking economic power away from national and local economies, as well as from citizens. Money launderers are increasingly making use of more sophisticated techniques, through 28
financial transactions and shell corporations, producing greater complexity in unravelling financial transactions and their link to criminality.108 The extent of money laundering activities is extremely difficult to assess, which is why it has been referred to as