Europol’s list of “most threatening” criminal gangs in the EU includes 821 gangs. One hundred of them are active in our country. “We know who they are and how they are organised,” says Europol boss Catherine De Bolle.
The most threatening criminal networks in the European Union are mainly concerned with human smuggling, drug trafficking and online fraud. In a new study, the European Police Office maps these networks. Europol has analyzed how the gangs are organised, what criminal activities they carry out and where they operate.
“We have them all on the radar,” assures Belgian Europol CEO Catherine De Bolle. She announced the results on Friday in the presence of Minister of Justice Paul Van Tigchelt (Open VLD) and Minister of the Interior Annelies Verlinden (CD&V). The latter did not shy away from big words: “This marks the beginning of a new era in the fight against organized crime.”
Drug smuggling
According to Europol, more than 25,000 people are active in the most threatening criminal gangs. Together they represent 112 nationalities. The criminal leaders are mainly located in the country where the network operates (82 percent). A small proportion (6 percent) reside outside the EU, with Turkey and the United Arab Emirates as popular refuges. Most criminal gangs (86 percent) use legal companies, either by infiltrating existing companies or by setting up money laundering companies themselves. The catering and logistics sectors are particularly popular sectors.
Of the 821 major crime networks, more than half are involved in drug trafficking. “The illicit drug market is one of the main sources of violence in the European Union and the main source of income for criminal networks,” Verlinden said. “This report is an important milestone for Belgium, and for the entire European community. And this is just the beginning.”
According to the report, one hundred of the 821 identified networks are active in Belgium. They mainly focus on drug trafficking, mainly cocaine. There are also groups involved in human smuggling into Great Britain, large-scale online fraud and excise fraud, such as cigarette smuggling. In addition to Belgians, Dutch, Turks, Moroccans and Albanians are mainly involved in these criminal organizations.
