Dismounted Operations for Covert Container Kits

ended

Piraeus Container Terminal is located at the crossroads of major shipping routes between Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. This makes it a crucial hub with a strategic location for transporting cargo containers between these regions. Piraeus Container Terminal has a capacity of 4.7 million T.E.U. (Twenty Equipment Unit) and it is the seventh among 20 EU ports in volume of containers handheld in 2021.(1) All of these factors contribute to the port's growing importance in EU cargo container transport, alongside with Thessaloniki’s secondary port and its container Terminal which serves as a significant hub for the Balkans. As the world becomes increasingly interconnected and trade volumes continue to grow, ports like Piraeus and Thessaloniki will likely continue to play a vital role in global trade flows. While the vast majority of the trade run through Piraeus port is legitimate, the container terminal is also exploited for moving shipments of illegal goods into the EU and is vulnerable to infiltration by criminal networks. The sheer volume of containers handled each year and the low percentage that can be physically inspected make detection of illicit goods extremely challenging. With many public and private actors having access to port infrastructure and port information, opportunities for infiltration and facilitation of illicit shipments are manifold. The aim of D.O.C2.K. project is to enhance the technical capabilities of Attica Security Directorate to track and mitigate cross border EU threats using containers to infiltrate EU through EU ports. The project focuses on the purchase of specialised technical equipment, which will be used for installations inside the containers and for targeted O.C.G.’s (Organized Crime Groups) in order to improve the investigation capabilities. (1)ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/mar_mg_am_pvh/default/table?lang=en