Enlarged EU could make organized crime easier, warns Europol

By David Cronin

Date: 13/11/03

ENLARGEMENT could prove a boon for organized crime, according to the latest annual report from Europol, the Union's law enforcement agency.

It estimates that the number of networks operating in the present member states rose from 3,000 to 4,000 in 2002-2003. On average, Europol believes each group consists of 100 individuals, ie some 40,000 people are engaged in organized crime in the EU.

Moreover, police forces in member states are struggling against Europe's criminal masterminds. "Overall, their illicit activities have become more difficult to detect, control and counter efficiently," the report states, adding: "This trend is likely to continue following the enlargement of the EU when criminals will be able to move between 25 instead of 15 member states."

Europol notes that money amassed through crime "can be moved very rapidly through computers".

Widespread use of mobile phones, in particular pre-paid telephones, is also a key feature of organized crime. "Many OC [organized crime] groups use pirated or encrypted phones and stolen phone cards, which are replaced on a regular basis. The variety of technological means and speed of innovation present a huge challenge," say the report's authors. They warn that bribery of authorities - "an efficient method of achieving criminal success" - is "likely to become more pronounced in the years to come".

While the report states that few OC groups pose a threat to the stability of member states, it warns that some could "reach into the fabric of political systems [and] affect the credibility ofa political system or its executive branches, including law enforcement".

Of the incoming member states, Estonia's criminal gangs are known to have links with the Russian mafia.

"Estonian OC groups are likely to exploit legislative and administrative loopholes, for example in relation to EU subsidies," the report points out.

Police forces in the current member states regard the Netherlands as the centre of organized crime, while Italian and Belgian groups are known to work closely with Albanian gangs.

Albania's crime bosses are "among the main threats to the EU", the report states, adding they are "often associated with extreme use of violence". The Albanians have graduated from simply providing manpower to taking over entire underground markets - as has happened in the case of the illegal sex industry in Britain. They have also been found to be acting as intermediaries for Colombian drug cartels.

John Abbott, who retired as a member of Europol's management board earlier this year, said he supports a proposal by the Italian EU presidency to post liaison officers to Albania as part of efforts to clamp down on international crime. "The fact you are pushing out the borders of the EU is a good thing," added Abbott, also a former director-general of the UK's National Criminal Intelligence Service. "It provides a good opportunity to have law enforcement officers and others singing the same tune. But it means you are perhaps pushing out the borders into more vulnerable areas."

Organized crime in the EU will be the topic of a conference in Dublin next week (20-21 November). Participants will include António Vitorino, the Union's justice and home affairs commissioner, as well as Michael McDowell and Jan Piet Hein Donner, the Irish and Dutch justice ministers.

• BASED in The Hague, Europol was launched in 1994 to coordinate the fight against illegal drug trafficking. In 2002, its mandate was extended to tackle all serious forms of international crime.

At the heart of its operations is the Europol Computer System, which features information, analysis and index systems to help identify and arrest crime magnates.

The latest 'European Union Organised Crime Situation Report' from Europol, the European law enforcement organisation, warns that enlargement of the European Union could lead to an increase in organised crime.

https://www.europol.europa.eu/ https://www.europol.europa.eu/

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