OSCE Mission brings together Serbian and Norwegian experts in the fight against organized crime
BELGRADE, 28 September 2007 - Police officers and representatives of the Serbian judiciary heard from Norwegian experts on conducting complex crime investigations at a seminar organized by the OSCE Mission to Serbia.
"Lengthy and complex investigations of crimes committed by organized groups require co-ordination and dedicated financial and material resources. We hope an exchange of international experience in the field will be beneficial in fighting this type of crime in Serbia," said Ambassador Hans Ola Urstad, Head of the OSCE Mission. "The Mission will keep supporting Serbia in building its capacities to fight organized crime."
The three Norwegian police investigators and a prosecutor presented a case study on the 2004 robbery of the Norsk Kontantservice (NOKAS), one of the largest and most violent robberies in Norway's history. They highlighted the importance of co-ordinating different elements of police work in investigating complex organized crime cases, and emphasized the need for close co-operation between police and prosecutors.
The equivalent of 9.5 million US dollars was stolen in the 2004 NOKAS robbery in the southwestern city of Stavanger. The resulting investigation, which led to the conviction of the robbery gang that committed the crime, was the biggest and most expensive such operation in the history of the Norwegian police and judiciary.