821 criminal networks threaten to undermine the security of the European Union (EU).
Publika.az reports that the European Police Agency (“Europol”) said this.
According to a report on organized crime presented in The Hague, there are more than 25,000 members of professional gangs, many of which operate internationally.
“Serious and organized crime is widespread and continues to pose a significant threat to the internal security of the European Union,” Europol said. The organization reached this conclusion based on the results of the first coordinated investigation of the problem, using data from 27 EU members and 17 Europol partner countries.
Armenia is also mentioned among the countries where the most dangerous criminal networks operate in the field of illegal trafficking of synthetic drugs.
According to the report, the vast majority of networks are engaged in drug trafficking. In addition to drug trafficking, networks are also commonly involved in fraud. Other crimes include theft and human trafficking.
Catherine de Bolle, managing director of Europol, said that no member state is immune from this. According to him, there are representatives of 112 nationalities among the 25,000 suspects.
The biggest threat is entering the legal world of business to promote, conceal and launder the proceeds of crime. The study found that 86 percent of the networks used legal business structures, and the vast majority used corruption and violence.
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