The spectacular results of Operation LAKE 2022-2023 against elver trafficking were recently presented in San Sebastián (Spain)

The spectacular results of Operation LAKE 2022-2023 against elver trafficking were presented, on the 31st August, in San Sebastián.

In Europe, with the collaboration of more than 30 countries, 25 tons of eel have been seized and 256 people have been arrested. LAKE has led to the continued maintenance of the species, reducing criminal activity by between 30 and 50%. If this had not been the case, this species, which has existed for 70 million years, could have disappeared permanently. The current challenge is based on cutting off financial flows, according to General Lecouffee.

Among the participants who presented the results at the press conference were: Deputy Executive Director of Europol, General Lecouffee, head of AP EnviCrime Europol; José Antonio Alfaro Moreno, head of Seprona; General David Blanes, head of the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Portuguese Maritime Police; Bruno Talhadas, the commander of the National Gendarmerie of Portugal; Fernando Alves, the captain of the Civil Guard; the commander of the French Gendarmerie, Hugo Rodrigues; and the head of the Adanas Regional Directorate of Bayonne (France), Sebastién Múgica; and Jesús Gálvez, lieutenant general, head of the Seprona Environment operational center.

The Life Satec Project is aimed at reinforcing actions in the fight against environmental crime, at a strategic level, in its component of improving criminal investigation capabilities from a comprehensive perspective.  It is focused on integrating the common capacities existing in Europe, to detect and to mitigate existing weaknesses and offer a common framework for action, achieving a synergistic effect for a better use of available resources and a more efficient fight against this criminal typology.