Law enforcement agencies responsible for counteracting and combating organised crime in the international arena – the role and effectiveness of international cooperation

<ns3:p>In the modern world, organised crime is one of the most dangerous phenomena of global significance. All the most serious crimes, such as: contract killings, arms smuggling, human trafficking, drug smuggling, or even terrorist activities are a reflection of the world of organised crime, manifesting itself in various forms in every part of the world. The times of the 21st century are particularly dangerous in terms of large-scale criminal activities occurring in the world, of which we, as a society, are often unaware. In order to combat international criminal groups, a number of institutions have been established over the last few decades, whose main domain is combating these criminal environments. These institutions include, among others, Interpol, Europol, OLAF and Eurojust, whose operational and intelligence activities are based on close cooperation between police services and the justice system around the world. The cooperation of these bodies in their current form seems to run quite efficiently and as effectively as possible. However, times are changing and require further improvement from these institutions. There are several reasons for this problem, including: ubiquitous legal, organisational, political, and, above all, technological problems. The key challenge to even more effective activities of law enforcement agencies combating organised crime should be the improvement of all operational and intelligence procedures, using the development of modern technologies, also based on the principle of mutual trust in partner relations of states, taking into account bilateral and multilateral agreements. The activities of organised crime groups in the world depend on the times in which these groups try to find their place and function, while adapting to changing socio-economic and political realities. That is why it is so important for state security agencies, led by the most important institutions on the international forum, to be able to act more effectively and well in advance, using increasingly better means to combat the most serious crimes, committed by the largest criminal groups.</ns3:p>