The police cooperation Europol released a report on Friday in which they mapped the most dangerous criminal networks in Europe. This is about 821 networks with a total of 25,000 members.
– We know who they are, how they are organized, what they do. The message to the criminal networks is: you can’t hide anymore, says Catherine De Bolle.
Infiltrating or starting your own
A majority of the networks, 86 percent, use legal operations for their crime. The networks infiltrate existing companies or start their own operations. The most vulnerable sectors are the construction sector, the hospitality industry and transport.
Legal businesses are also used for money laundering. There, Europol points out real estate investments, retail trade with expensive goods and other companies where a lot of money is in circulation.
“Continues in prison”
The EU’s Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, is the initiator of the survey.
– What was new to me is how resilient they are – how they can continue with their business even when their leader is in prison, Johansson notes.
A third of the networks have been active for more than 10 years. According to Europol, how long the networks manage to survive is related to how successful they are in controlling legal activities.
Drugs most common
In 82 percent of the cases, the networks are specialized in a single area, “poly-criminality” is one of the exceptions, notes Europol.
Half of the mapped networks are engaged in drug trafficking. Fraud, human smuggling and human trafficking are other common areas of crime.
The leaders are usually found where the network has its main criminal activity. Six percent of the leaders are outside the EU, where Europol singles out Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and South America.