LION DC PROJECT RESULTS PRESENTED TO LITHUANIAN LAW ENFORCEMENT AGIENCIES

On June 15 2021, a remote Lion DC project results presentation event was organized by Lithuanian Cybercrime Center of Excellence for Training, Research and Education L3CE together with the project coordinator Mykolas Romeris University. 

The two-and-a-half-year Lion DC project ends in early July, 2021. 

Lion DC (Law Enforcement Technological Innovation Consolidation for Fight Against Online Drug Crimes) project aims to provide Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA) with new skills, methodologies and tools in the fight against drug trafficking, given major discernible shifts in the utilisation of digital environments (e.g. traditional social media) regarding distribution and sale of drugs such as the increasingly widespread use of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies by organized crime. In order to enhance LEA capacity to identify the flow of drugs and key players involved, either to thwart criminal activity or to determine guilt after the fact, the project will: test the efficiency, unique capabilities, and shortfalls in the use of various forms of technology, as well as Open Source Intelligence Tools (OSINT); penetrate the Dark Web; develop novel ways of going beyond the widely used “follow the money” principle; and augment the identification and description of criminals by collating a wide range of sources, both open and closed. The key activity of the Lion DC initiative was real, case based, cross border exercising in drug criminality, which was enacted by LEA practitioners, providing opportunities for LEA together with academia to share expertise, methodologies and analytical capabilities; and to identify available tools and rank them on their feasibility and usefulness. 

During the event L3CE experts have shared the results and outcomes of each working package of the project to representatives from Lithuanian Law Enforcement authorities. Participants also had an opportunity to hear about the other related initiatives and projects – European Anti-Cybercrime Technology Development Association EACTDA (https://eactda.eu), project GRACE – Global Response Against Child Exploitation (www.grace-fct.eu), EU-Hybnet project – a Pan European Network to Counter Hybrid Threats (https://euhybnet.eu) and ENSURESEC project – End-to-end Security of the Digital Single Market’s E-commerce and Delivery Service Ecosystem (www.ensuresec.eu). 

The meeting was dedicated to disseminate the Lion DC outcomes, as well as to discuss further collaboration and sustainability of the results. The event was attended by project partners and representatives from Lithuanian law enforcement institutions: Financial Crime Investigation Service, Money Laundering Prevention Competence Center, Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau, Lithuanian Police Forensic Research Center, Police Department under the Ministry of the Interior, Vilnius County Police Headquarters, officials of Kaunas Police Community, Kaunas County Police Headquarters, Klaipėda County Police Headquarters, Klaipėda District Police Commissariat, Utena County Police Headquarters. 

The several-hour meeting was beneficial to all participants, discussions on further collaboration started right after the event. 

More about Lion DC project: https://lion-dc.eu/ 

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Lion DC project is funded by the European Union’s Internal Security Fund – Police, under grant agreement No 822616