Europol has brought out a first report on the most threatening criminal networks active in the European Union. It covers some 821 criminal networks active in the EU, as gathered by the EU’s policing agency. The UK is among non-EU countries covered by the report.
In a foreword, Europol’s Executive Director, Catherine De Bolle, said: “Their 25,000 members commit crimes for profit and are capable of operating in multiple countries simultaneously, impacting the lives of millions of EU citizens. Each of the 821 identified criminal networks is unique. They vary in composition, structure, criminal activity, territorial control, longevity, types of cooperation and a range of other dimensions.”
The document is described as giving the inner workings of criminal networks. While most networks are ‘highly diverse in terms of nationality composition’ and most, 68 per cent of the networks contain members of multiple nationalities, ranging anywhere between two and ten, and sometimes
more, the main nationalities are Albania, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Turkey and Ukraine. Europol points to a distinct group of Belgo-Dutch networks, besides similar groups based on those from eastern Europeans and the Baltic republics. Nationality is often the first lead for law enforcement.
Half of the most threatening networks are involved in drug trafficking as the main criminal activity, notably cocaine, or numerous sorts of drugs (including synthetic). Legal businesses in the import/export, port logistics and transport sector play an important role in drug trafficking, and are often set up or infiltrated by networks. They provide cover to hide drugs, facilitate transport, extract and store trafficked drugs with a legal front; besides laundering profits.
As for fraud, call centres (including in the UK and targeting EU countries) play an important role in investment and other scam schemes, targeting specific categories of victims such as the elderly. Networks may carry out VAT or tobacco excise frauds. Among other crimes are professional kidnappings, counterfeiting, vehicle theft and migrant smuggling (also for the business of sexual and labour – notably in restaurants, construction and agriculture – exploitation).
Only nine networks of mostly Russians and Ukrainians have cyber as their main activity; they operate on an ‘affiliate business model’, according to the report. “In some cases, the number of members exceeds 100, with a smaller core group managing operations. The core group makes ransomware available to its affiliates, who then carry out the cyber-attack. The core group manages the negotiations and payment of ransom, often in cryptocurrency.”
Serious and organised crime, at its most threatening level, concerns every single EU member state, and crime is borderless, the report points out. The most threatening criminal networks are often long-lasting ones, that have already been active for multiple years and have managed to resist dismantlement, says Europol.
For the 60-page document, visit the Europol website.
