Police broke up 183 organised crime groups in 2012

Photo: cbs.policja.pl

All in all, charges were brought against 5700 people owing to work coordinated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBS), a wing of Poland's police force founded in 2000 to combat organised crime.

“Last year, in the frame of its operational activities, the CBS investigated almost 7500 people (about 1500 people more than last year) operating in 772 criminal groups, including 708 Polish groups, 54 international ones and 6 Russian-speaking groups,” Inspector Mariusz Sokolowski told the Polish Press Agency (PAP).

Of the groups that were broken up, 173 were Polish and 10 international.

The CBS focuses chiefly on money laundering, the narcotics trade and arms trafficking. The organisation is due to undergo reforms this spring, and among the changes, the CBS will also investigate human trafficking and ransoms. (nh)