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.