In recent months, the police have reported a number of significant arrests linked to the illegal trafficking of drugs. For example, the dismantling of a large-scale drug production facility the arrest of people in the Alūksne region, the arrest of the leader of a well-known criminal group in the criminal world together with Spanish colleagues, and other activities.
Ruks says it is just a coincidence that all the arrests of large groups have taken place in a short time, adding that the detection of criminals does not happen in a day. It is a long process, measured in months or even years, to track down criminals and gather the information needed to apprehend them.
In recent years, the police have also shifted their focus to trying to track down the leaders of organized crime and to detect transnational groups. This is also Europol's objective - to work on transnational groups, Ruks said.
Comparing today with the 1990s, when the public knew many of the movers and shakers in the criminal world, Ruks says the criminal landscape has changed. Back then, criminals were more visible because they were mainly into racketeering.
Now, "we are talking about more or less a dozen organized groups operating in Latvia," says Ruks, adding that they are mainly transnational.
Giving an insight into the activities of the groups, Ruks said that until recently there were groups from Lithuania that were involved in the theft of luxury cars in Latvia and other countries. Now, their activities have diminished and they steal fewer cars. There were also so-called "mobile" groups that robbed homes in Latvia, Poland and Lithuania. There was also a Romanian group that robbed ATMs.
Organized crime is also affected by the fact that the borders with Russia and Belarus are under the microscope and under increased scrutiny.
