Criminal networks within the European Union are penetrating legal businesses across the 27-nation bloc and relying heavily on corruption to develop their activities. That is the grim picture emerging from a report by the EU crime agency published on Friday.
Europol has identified 821 particularly threatening criminal networks with greater than 25,000 members within the bloc.
According to the agency, 86% of those networks are in a position to infiltrate the legitimate economy to cover their activities and launder their criminal profits.
Europol gave the instance of a gang leader who was an Italian businessman of Argentine origin residing in Marbella, Spain. The individual makes a speciality of drug trafficking and money laundering and runs several corporations, including one which imports bananas from Ecuador to the EU. He also owns sports centers in Marbella, shopping centers in Granada and several other bars and restaurants, it said.
“An Albanian accomplice based in Ecuador handles the import of cocaine from Colombia to Ecuador and its subsequent distribution to the EU. Ecuadorian fruit companies are being used as a front for these criminal activities,” the report said.
Europol also identifies families Italy’s ‘Ndrangheta Organized crime syndicate, one of the crucial powerful, extensive and richest drug trafficking groups on this planet. Their profits from drug and arms trafficking and tax evasion are invested across Europe in real estate, supermarkets, hotels and other business activities, it said.
Another feature of those networks is the borderless nature of their structure, with members representing 112 nationalities, the report says.
“However, when looking at the locations of their core activities, the vast majority maintain a strong geographical focus and do not expand their core activities too far,” Europol said.
When it involves their activities, EU officials’ major concerns are drug trafficking and corruption.
Because record amounts of cocaine are being confiscated in Europe and drug-related violent crime is becoming increasingly visible in lots of EU countries similar to Belgium and France, with drug trafficking standing out because the major activity, the report said. Half of essentially the most threatening criminal networks are involved in drug trafficking, either as a stand-alone activity or as a part of a portfolio.
Additionally, greater than 70% of networks engage in corruption “to facilitate criminal activity or obstruct law enforcement or judicial proceedings.” “68% of networks use violence and intimidation as an inherent feature of their operations,” the report said.
In Belgium, with Antwerp because the major gate In order to bring Latin American cocaine cartels to the continent, gang violence has been rife within the port city for years. With drug use on the rise across the countryAccording to federal authorities, human trafficking is rapidly penetrating society.
“Organized crime is one of the biggest threats we face today. It threatens society with corruption and extreme violence,” said EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson.
Europol said the info can be shared with law enforcement agencies in EU member countries, which should help higher fight criminals.
