Europol Disrupts 76% of EU's Most Dangerous Criminal Networks

Casablanca — Europol says police have dealt a major blow to organized crime across the European Union, but the criminal scene is changing just as quickly.

In a report published Thursday, 76% of the 821 criminal networks identified as the EU’s biggest threats in 2024 are no longer considered among the most dangerous. Many were disrupted through intelligence-led investigations, financial probes, and coordinated law enforcement operations.

Those operations included task forces focused on high-value targets, parallel financial investigations, and coordinated action days targeting ports, transport networks, warehouses, and digital infrastructure.

Some groups disappeared for reasons beyond law enforcement action. According to Europol, certain networks split up, reorganized, evolved into different criminal structures, or simply no longer ranked among the bloc’s highest threats.

As old networks fall, new ones rise

The report says 533 new criminal networks have appeared over the past year, while 198 of the original groups are still active. Many of those remaining are older organizations with established leadership and deep roots, making them harder to dismantle.

Europol now identifies 731 of the EU’s most threatening criminal networks, down from 821 in its previous assessment, but says the lower figure should not be interpreted as an overall decline in organized crime.

The agency describes organized crime as being driven by opportunism. Criminal groups constantly look for weak spots they can exploit, whether in digital systems, financial services, new technologies, or wider geopolitical developments.

Rather than operating on their own, many are part of broader criminal ecosystems that allow them to cooperate, recover from setbacks, and adapt when one network is taken down.

Cybercrime is playing a bigger role than ever. Criminal groups increasingly rely on encrypted communications, online platforms, and artificial intelligence to expand their operations while staying out of sight.

The internet has also become central to nearly every stage of their operations, from communication and recruitment to selling illegal goods and targeting victims.

Financial crime remains at the heart of organized criminal operations. Criminal networks continue to use cryptocurrencies, money laundering schemes, and legitimate businesses to hide illegal profits before channeling them back into criminal activities

The report also indicates that 85% of the networks examined use legitimate business structures to support or conceal their criminal activities.

The networks examined in the report include more than 400,000 members from 118 nationalities. Their activities range from drug trafficking and cybercrime to human trafficking and other forms of serious organized crime.

Drug trafficking remains the most common activity, accounting for more than one-third of the networks studied, although they are also active in cybercrime, migrant smuggling, fraud, money laundering, and human trafficking.

Chief of Cyprus Police Themistos Arnaoutis said dismantling criminal networks takes more than arrests. He called for closer cooperation between law enforcement, governments, and the private sector, along with greater investment in innovation, intelligence-led policing, and efforts to prevent criminals from exploiting society.

Acting Europol Executive Director Jürgen Ebner said every disrupted network weakens the wider criminal ecosystem, but warned that organized crime adapts quickly and fills the gaps left behind.

European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner said the findings support the EU’s ongoing work against drug trafficking, migrant smuggling, and digital fraud. He also said the bloc is updating Europol’s mandate to strengthen cooperation across member states.

Europol said it will continue working with EU countries, partner nations, and public and private sector partners to tackle the conditions that allow organized crime to thrive.

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