Fighting transborder organized crime in Southeast Europe through fighting corruption in customs agencies

In the past 12 years transborder organized crime and corruption have continually plagued the countries of southeast Europe. Both problems were identified by the EU as major obstacles to integration and crucial criteria for the assessment of progress made within the context of the Stabilization and Association Process. Within the broader campaign against organized crime, and transborder organised crime in particular, the need to fight corruption in customs bureaux is very urgent. Customs bureaux in southeast Europe are more vulnerable to corruption than other law enforcement agencies, because customs officers have discretionary access to tangible wealth, while being substantially underpaid. Based on the central and eastern European countries' experience, this article tries to identify possible measures that the southeast European countries could employ to fight corruption in customs bureaux, as an essential step against transborder organized crime.