Counter Terrorism Centre
| Counter Terrorism Centre Terrorelhárítási Központ |
|
| Abbreviation | TEK |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | September 1, 2010 |
| Employees | 858 (2011) |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| General nature |
|
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | Pál Maléter Barracks, Budapest, Hungary |
| Elected officer responsible | Sándor Pintér, Minister of Interior |
| Agency executive | János Hajdú, General |
| Website | |
| http://tek.gov.hu/ | |
Counter Terrorism Centre (Hungarian: Terrorelhárítási Központ, TEK) is the SWAT state agency of Hungary, specialized for counter-terrorism, hostage crisis, gun violence, capturing dangerous criminals and protecting the Hungarian government and Hungarian citizens worldwide.
It belongs to the Hungarian Ministry of Interior, headed by Sándor Pintér. TEK headquarters is located at Zách street (close to Hungária Boulevard), Pál Maléter Barracks, Kőbánya, Budapest, Hungary.[1]
TEK was founded by the Second Cabinet of Viktor Orbán on 1 September 2010. According to the Hungarian ombudsman, TEK is the most professional, well-financed and well-equipped state agency in the country.[2]
Role
- Counter-terrorism: Preventing terrorist attacks
- Hostage crisis: Set to free Hungarian hostages nationwide and worldwide
- Gun violence: Bank robbery, school shooting
- Capturing and arresting dangerous, beweaponed criminals
- Eliminate mafia organizations
- Protecting the Hungarian government, politicians, ambassadors and citizens nationwide and worldwide
Equipment and vehicles
Detailed information about the equipment of TEK is not public, but according to the Hungarian media it uses armoured Audi Q7 luxury SUVs[3] and BTR-80 armoured personnel carriers. According to Sándor Pintér, the Minister of Interior, TEK doesn't use tanks.[4]
Notable operations
World War Z filming in Budapest commenced on the evening of October 10, 2011.[5] That morning, the Counter Terrorism Centre raided the warehouse where guns had been delivered for use as filming props.[5] The 85 assault rifles, sniper rifles, and handguns had been flown into Budapest overnight on a private aircraft, but the film's producers had failed to clear the delivery with Hungarian authorities, and while the import documentation indicated that the weapons had been disabled, all were found to be fully functional.[5][6] On February 10, 2012, the charges were dropped after investigators were unable to identify exactly which "organization or person" had "ownership rights", therefore they couldn't "establish which party was criminally liable".[7]
On 13 August 2012 three Hungarian citizens was hostaged by Syrian gunmen in Damascus. A special TEK unit ran to Syria to set free Hungarian citizens, they arrived to Budapest on 27 August 2012 without injury.[8][9]
References
- ^ Foundation of TEK, Index.hu (Hungarian)
- ^ Hungarian ombudsman about TEK, Index.hu (Hungarian)
- ^ Equipment of TEK, totalcar.hu (Hungarian)
- ^ TEK doesn't get tanks, origo.hu (Hungarian)
- ^ a b c "Counter-terrorism police seize World War Z machine guns". News.com.au. October 11, 2011. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
- ^ Johnson, Zach (October 10, 2011). "SWAT Team Raids Brad Pitt's World War Z Set". US Weekly. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
- ^ Grossberg, Josh (February 10, 2012). "Brad Pitt's Illegal Gun Cache: Is He Really in Serious Trouble?". E!. Retrieved March 2, 2012.
- ^ Hostage crisis in Syria, Magyar Nemzet (Hungarian)
- ^ Hostage crisis in Syria, HVG (Hungarian)
