FBIS3-21769
"jptdd010__l94074"
JPRS-TDD-94-010L
Document Type:JPRS
Document Title:Narcotics
7 March 1994
EAST EUROPE
HUNGARY
Police Antidrug Chief Discusses Struggle Against Narcotics Trade
AU0103125394 Budapest MAGYAR NEMZET in Hungarian 26 Feb 94 p
15
AU0103125394
Budapest MAGYAR NEMZET
Language: Hungarian
Article Type:BFN
[Interview with Lt. Colonel Gyorgy Hollosi, head of the
anti-drugs department of the National Police Headquarters, by
Istvan Boros; place and date not given: "Cocaine: The Largest
Profit"]
[Text] News of large amounts of heroin and hashish
confiscated by police and customs officials have been increasing
in recent months. According to pertinent data, a total of 697
kilograms of drugs were confiscated in 1993, including 427
kilograms of heroin. On the basis of international experience,
some experts claim that ten times the aforementioned amount can
generally be found in Hungary in the form of transit supplies or
in the illegal trade. We asked Gyorgy Hollosi, head of the
anti-drug department of the National Police Headquarters, to
describe the current situation in Hungary, with particular
emphasis on whether we remained a transit country or have
already become a target country....
Hollosi: Both formulations are correct. A
considerable part of the East-West transit is carried out
through Hungary. The so-called Balkan route goes through
Hungary now, especially because of the Yugoslav war. It is also
worth mentioning that an increasing amount of drugs stayed in
Hungary in the past four years, so we already count as a target
country as well, especially in the supply of heroin and hashish.
Boros: What is the task of your department?
Hollosi: Our aim is to catch the suppliers and
discover their contacts and storage facilities even without
confiscating one gram of drugs. We are seeking the heads of the
organization and it is our task to prove the committed crimes.
Boros: Are you also making use of special methods
for this?
Hollosi: We are also making use of criminal
intelligence methods in our investigations .
Boros: People say that it is impossible to
achieve results in the struggle against drug-trafficking without
informers.
Hollosi: That is true.
Boros: To what extent are you employing informers?
Hollosi: I would not like to say anything about
our undercover people and informers. However, I can say that we
catch the criminals through police cooperation in a rather large
number of cases.
Boros: What is your strategic goal?
Hollosi: Our strategic goal is to create a
situation in the wake of which an increasing number of drug
smugglers avoid Hungary. We want to force them to reorganize
their supplies to other areas.
Boros: Who is actually smuggling drugs?
Hollosi: Mostly Kosovo Albanians, and citizens of
the former Yugoslavia irrespective of nationality, as well as
Turks, Arabs, and Nigerians.
Boros: The amount of seized drugs has increased
100 times since 1990. Does this mean that the customs officials
and police are working increasingly well or that this is the
increase in the amount of drugs smuggled through Hungary?
Hollosi: The amount of drugs transported through
Hungary only increased by about 10 percent in the past four
years. The apparently huge increase is the result of a
considerable improvement in the efficiency of investigation.
Boros: In the past decades, experts feared an
explosion on the drug front. Quietly, the available data show
that this explosion took place in 1990.
Hollosi: I would say that that year was a
decisive one: The flow of classic drugs began, consumer habits
changed, and the range of various drugs increased. The central
drug service of the National Police Headquarters was set up in
1990, and the systematic training of customs officials also
began in that year.
Boros: Where can these drugs be found?
Hollosi: First of all in youth clubs and in
restaurants and bars favored by Yugoslavs and Arabs.
Boros: People claim that drugs are supplied to
kids near the schools.
Hollosi: There is no such thing. It is a fairy
tale that the drugs are hidden in chocolate or chewing gum. On
the contrary: The drug-dealer clearly tells the young people
what the stuff is and how much it costs.... It is stupid to
believe that making people addicted to drugs is free of charge.
Boros: Drug trafficking and organized crime are
almost synonymous concepts. To what extent is the underworld
present in the drug trafficking in Hungary?
Hollosi: According to our data and our
experience, with the exception of cocaine smuggling, organized
crime has not yet penetrated this business. The reason is that
heroin does not yet bring great profit in Hungary. For the time
being, the smugglers are only scattering the crumbs in Hungary.
Boros: What about cocaine?
Hollosi: This brings the biggest profit indeed.
The consumers--including criminals and prostitutes--are people
with money who can afford to pay 10,000 forints for one gram.
This is the market that for the criminals is already worth
handling. In addition, cocaine consumers use this drug in
well-defended private homes, bars, and massage parlors and,
thus, it is very difficult to prove the crime. A simple drug
addict cannot get hold of cocaine because of its high price. He
would take everything that has any effect. This leads to the
so-called politoxicomania, and organized crime has not yet
gained control of this "industry."
Boros: Have mafia people dealing with drugs or
their financial supporters infiltrated Hungarian political and
economic life?
Hollosi: We, policemen, say that it is one thing
to know something and another thing to prove it. However, no
people among the political or economic elite are engaged in
financing the drug traffic, and no such people can be connected
with drugs.
Boros: Where, then, should one look for such
people, in which social strata?
Hollosi: Mostly among the well-known figures in
the gossip columns. These are ambitious criminals who want to
appear to be successful entrepreneurs, because they have to
launder their income from illegal trade.