Council Recommendation of 25 April 2002 on improving investigation methods in the fight against organised crime linked to organised drug trafficking: simultaneous investigations into drug trafficking by criminal organisations and their finances/assets
Date: 2002-04-25
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: database, drug traffic, fight against crime, financing, judicial inquiry, organised crime

15.5.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 114/1

I

(Information)

COUNCIL

COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION

of 25 April 2002

on improving investigation methods in the fight against organised crime linked to organised drug
trafficking: simultaneous investigations into drug trafficking by criminal organisations and their
finances/assets

(2002/C 114/01)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the United Nations Convention against
Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances,
adopted in Vienna on 20 December 1988,

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the United Nations Convention against
transnational organised crime adopted in Palermo in 2000,

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the Presidency Conclusions of
the
special meeting of the European Council held in Tampere on
15 and 16 October 1999,

necessary legislation, and trying to counteract the concern
caused by the growing incidence of illicit drug trafficking
in different social groups.

(3) Illicit drug trafficking generates vast fortunes which allow
drug-related crime to adversely affect society in general;
for
the
enormous profits obtained from their illicit activities, as
well as seizing the drugs, causes them serious damage,
thus thwarting and preventing their resurgence.

reason, depriving such organisations of

that

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the European Union Action Plan to
Combat Drugs, approved by the Feira European Council
in
June 2000,

(4) Investigation techniques should be promoted, made more
rigorous and also improved, in order to make them more
effective in the fight against crime linked to organised
drug trafficking.

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the Council of Europe 1990
Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation
of the Proceeds from Crime,

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the Council Framework Decision on
money laundering, the identification, tracing, freezing, seizing
and confiscation of instrumentalities and the proceeds of crime,
of 26 June 2001 (1),

Whereas:

(5) It is convinced by the results obtained in some Member
States, and should like to try to implement, where
necessary, the investigation technique whereby action is
taken on all fronts from the outset of the investigation on
crime linked to drug-trafficking, which makes it possible
to uncover illicit drug-trafficking activities, the assets (of
whatever kind) held by the organisation and those
acquired as the investigation proceeds, and to identify
their holders.

(1) The actions envisaged by the European Union Action Plan
to Combat Drugs include stepping up the fight against
illicit drug trafficking and organised
organised crime,
forms of drug-related
crime linked to it, and other
crime by means of various
including the
actions,
promotion of new investigation techniques.

(6) It is also convinced that the technique of simultaneous
investigation will be more effective, since the competent
authorities will be able to decide to seize property of any
its
kind resulting from criminal activity and prevent
disposal,
in all cases in accordance with the national
laws of each State.

(2) The European Union has also shown its firm deter-
mination to fight all
including those
linked to organised drug trafficking, by adopting the

types of crime,

(1) OJ L 182, 5.7.2001, p. 1.

(7) Such an investigation technique can also lead to further
evidence corroborating the link with those involved with
the crime, or revealing the involvement of other people in
the drug-trafficking offence.

C 114/2

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

15.5.2002

(8) Sources constitute an essential basis for
internal

investigating
assets, either
law
such as
enforcement bodies, or external whether public (with
public access where relevant) or private (consultation by
means of a court order).

the databases of

(9) There is a need for greater cooperation in expediting
requests submitted by the competent law enforcement,
court and tax authorities to the persons responsible for
the various registers containing data on the ownership of
assets of any nature held by the persons presumed to be
involved in drug trafficking offences.
(The persons
responsible would be in charge of, for example, public
the Property Register, or private
registers,
in each
registers such as those of credit
case observing the applicable national laws.

institutions),

such as

(10) The final objectives of such an investigation technique are
to ensure that the perpetrators are held accountable, to
make good any damage caused and to compensate any
victims where appropriate.

(11) The investigation technique of ‘uncovering’ the assets of
any nature belonging to criminals involved in organised
drug trafficking will be known as asset investigation, for
the period required to establish the assets resulting from
the investigation, which may or may not coincide with
the conclusion of the drug-trafficking investigation.

(12) Assets are defined as the collective property and financial
rights owned by a natural or legal person, and asset inves-
tigation is defined as the investigation technique enabling
information in a series of files and databases (public or
private) or other sources to be systematically analysed to
identify such individual assets and financial rights and to
attribute their ownership to specific natural or
legal
persons.

(13) Instrumentalities, property, proceeds and confiscation are
as defined in the 1990 Council of Europe Convention on
Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of
the
Proceeds from Crime.

(14) In the context of

the European Union, a number of
initiatives are close to completion with the aim of
implementing new measures against crime,
including
drug-related crime, on joint investigation teams and on
court orders for the preventive freezing of assets and
obtaining evidence,

HEREBY RECOMMENDS MEMBER STATES:

A. To apply, whenever they consider it necessary, the investi-
gation method in the fight against crime, including crime
linked to organised drug trafficking, consisting of investi-
gating on all fronts, right from the beginning, any activities
connected with illicit drug trafficking and identifying the
organisation's finances and assets.

B. To encourage the setting up of permanent or temporary
groups
to
promote greater efficiency in the investigation method
described.

specialised in asset

investigation,

in order

C. To reinforce or

facilitate

responsible for

cooperation between the
competent law enforcement, court and tax authorities and
persons
the various public or private
registers of ownership holding information on assets of
any nature, by speeding up the processing of requests for
information made by those authorities.
(The persons
responsible would be in charge of,
for example, public
registers,
the Property Register, or private
registers such as those of credit institutions), in each case
observing the applicable national laws.

such as

joint

D. To promote the creation of

investigative teams
between Member States pursuant to the legal instruments
of the European Union by applying such methods in cases
where the investigation into the criminal organisation
involved in drug trafficking affects more
than one
Member State.

E. To invite Europol, in accordance with the Council Recom-
mendation of 30 November 2000 to the Member States in
respect of Europol's assistance to joint investigative teams
set up by the Member States (1), to support those teams
when requested to do so.

F. To use the possibilities offered by CEPOL (the European
in devising specific training modules on

Police College)
use of this special investigation technique.

Done at Luxemburg, 25 April 2002.

For the Council

The President

M. RAJOY BREY

(1) OJ C 357, 13.12.2000, p. 7.