Fedpol chief: Mafia wants to infiltrate the justice system
Published: Wednesday, Apr 17th 2024, 03:00
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Thanks to the encrypted communication service for criminals Sky ECC, which was cracked by Europol in 2021, around 60 investigations are currently underway in Switzerland. "It's about cocaine, cannabis, synthetic drugs and weapons," said Fedpol chief Nicoletta della Valle.
15 of these are located at the Federal Office of Police (Fedpol), said della Valle in an interview with the "Neue Zürcher Zeitung" published on Wednesday. "So far, however, we have only analyzed 20 percent of the large amount of data. We simply don't have the resources, and time is running out: the older the data, the less valuable it is."
What the data shows, according to della Valle: The mafia has definitely arrived in Switzerland. "These are members of the Balkan mafia, the Italian mafia and other organizations. They divide up their criminal activities." The organizations are working together more and more. Fedpol does not know how many cells there are. And: drugs are now also being produced in this country. "Through images that were forwarded to Sky ECC, we were able to see how legally grown hemp was sprayed with synthetic cannabinoids in a laboratory and then exported by the ton as cannabis containing THC," said the Fedpol chief.
Fedpol chief: Resources are not enough
According to della Valle, current police resources are not sufficient to effectively combat organized crime. "Sometimes twenty or thirty federal and cantonal investigators are deployed to work on a single case for months," she said. "In Switzerland, with the current resources of all police forces, around five such procedures can be carried out at the same time. In terms of police density in relation to the population, Switzerland lags far behind the rest of Europe."
It is also difficult to gather enough evidence for an indictment, says della Valle. "There are stores in prime city center locations that are almost always empty. Or gelaterias that make the same turnover in winter as they do in summer. In such cases, the police know that something can't be right. But it's extremely difficult to do anything about it." The tax office, the food inspectorate or the labor inspectorate can, of course, pay a visit. "In this way, we can cause disruption," said the Fedpol boss. "But often, despite our best efforts, we don't find enough to press charges."
Della Valle: Judiciary to be infiltrated
The fact that organized crime does not attract more public attention is due to its invisibility. "You often don't see organized crime, which is why it hardly bothers anyone in everyday life," says della Valle.
But it can have tangible effects: As they spread, the criminal organizations are also trying to influence the local justice system. "We found chats between two Calabrese on Sky ECC in which people were asking how to influence the justice system in Switzerland. Among other things, these criminals also want to infiltrate the Swiss judicial system," said the Fedpol chief.
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