ESTONIA

Fighting organized crime in Estonia

Estonia is a Baltic Sea country sharing land and maritime borders with Scandinavia, Russia and Northern Europe. This strategic location astride Eastern and Western Europe makes Estonia a targeted transit country for crime groups smuggling illicit merchandise between those markets.

Consequently, Estonia’s principal transnational crime challenges include trafficking in drugs, people, weapons as well as illegal migration. Associated crime include money laundering and violent crime.

The international characteristics of these crime areas and their links with crime networks around the world make the role of the INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB) in Estonia fundamental to maintaining national and regional security.

INTERPOL in Estonia

The INTERPOL NCB  for Estonia is a part of the Intelligence Management Bureau, a unit of the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board. It is staffed by 60 police and civilian crime specialists and plays a central role in preventing the country and surrounding region from serving international organized crime.

By providing globally-sourced intelligence about regional crime trends, the NCB helps police officers across Estonia detect and investigate the flow of illicit goods along trafficking routes in and around the country.

NCB Tallinn is a regular partner in INTERPOL-led global police operations in the region.

Law enforcement in Estonia

The Estonian Police and Border Guard Board (Eesti Politsei- ja Piirivalveametin) is a government agency under the authority of the Ministry of the Interior. The Board is headed by a Director General.

The Police and Border Guard Board was established in 2010 when the Police Board, Central Criminal Police, Public Order Police, Border Guard Board, and Citizenship and Migration Board were merged. With a workforce of more than 5,000 people, it is currently the biggest state agency in Estonia.