Criminalistic Classification of Investigative Situations Occurring during the Arrest of a Person Suspected in Illegal Drug Trafficking

Abstract

Each investigative situation is a set of factual data possessing distinctive nature, since it combines various components of the following character: psychological and informational, procedural and tactical, material, organizational, and technical. At any stage of investigation, the investigator can assess the actual data and decide what further steps to take. The article dwells upon the classification of investigative situations occurring during the arrest of the persons suspected in criminal proceedings in crimes related to illegal drug trafficking. Proper assessment of investigation situation is possible only through in-depth analysis of the elements at all stages of the investigation, namely, determination of the fact in proof of a crime, qualification and planning of investigation, form of presentation and special aspects of finding and distributing the information, being the key features in assessing the output data. The primary task of an investigator during a crime investigation in the area of drug trafficking is to determine the actual situation in the course of investigation, to obtain necessary data for decision-making in proceedings, to propose the most substantiated investigative versions and determine further progress of (the list of investigative (search)) procedures in perspective, or to minimize the number of investigatorʼs decisions based on trials and mistakes. In order to make a proper analysis of the situation, it is necessary to take into account all the initial conditions, namely, the form of information presentation, the aspects of its finding and distribution, which remain of key importance for the assessment of the output data, as well as determination of the fact in proof, crime qualification, and investigation planning. That is, the basis for classifying the investigative situations, regardless of the direction of crime investigation, is the solving of the main tasks, primarily: availability or absence of information that is relevant in the process of solving the main tasks of investigation; amount of the aforementioned information and ways to obtain it. The development of investigative situations and further crimes investigation is based on these points. It is sometimes impossible to typify the investigative situations, however, it is necessary to distinguish certain categories of law infringements. It should also be remembered that investigation should be based on scientific principles in order to enable the Law enforcement officers to understand correctly the situations and to have a clear action plan in such cases. Since day by day the offenders improve their skills in committing crimes, and especially crimes in the area of illegal drug trafficking, which are committed confidentially in most cases, the crimes disclosure remains at a low level.