In an unprecedented exercise, Europol has drawn up a complete mapping of criminal networks operating in the European Union, which describes in detail how they are organized, what criminal activities they participate in and how and where they operate. As a result, the European Police Office has identified the 821 “most dangerous” organizations, which have more than 25,000 Member States throughout the EU.
Spain appears cited among the Member States with greater presence of these high-risk criminal networks, in participating in active drug trafficking and especially cocaine. Our country also hosts criminal organizations dedicated to VAT and excise tax fraud, as well as specialized in organized robberies. The public report does not break down the number of networks by country or their identity, although this data is available to law enforcement agencies.
“Criminals thrive on secrecy, but we are changing that. This Europol report is the most extensive study of major criminal networks ever carried out at European level by law enforcement. This data, now centralized at Europol, will give security forces the advantage they need to better target and conduct cross-border criminal investigations,” said Europol Executive Director Catherine De Bolle.
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Of the 821 “high risk” criminal networks identified by Europol, half are dedicated to drug trafficking as their main activity. “Drug trafficking operations are most frequently located in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain; and outside the EU in Albania, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and the United Kingdom,” the report says.
“Cocaine-only networks operate mainly in EU Member States such as Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Spain. The presence of major ports in these countries, often with direct connections to drug-producing countries, plays a prominent role in their relevance. Many of the networks identified They operate in and around ports in these countries“, continues the study.
Spain is also cited as a preferred base for criminal organizations that combine trafficking in various types of drugs, along with France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
Europol highlights that 86% of these networks they use legal business structures to stay under the radar and launder money. The sectors most vulnerable to infiltration by criminal organizations are construction, hospitality and logistics.
The report gives as an example a network dismantled in February whose leader, a Italian businessman of Argentine origin residing in Marbellaused his companies to hide drug trafficking and money laundering activities.
This person ran several companies, including one that imported bananas from Ecuador to the EU, as well as sports centers in Marbella, shopping centers in Granada and multiple bars and restaurants. An Albanian accomplice based in Ecuador was in charge of importing cocaine from Colombia to Ecuador to distribute it in the EU, using Ecuadorian fruit companies as a cover.
Europol notes that the vast majority of these “high-risk” criminal networks are made up of members of multiple nationalities and operate in more than one Member State. And they resort to “extreme violence” to carry out their criminal activities.
