Europol revealed a map detailing 821 of the continent's "most threatening" criminal networks on Friday, offering insight into the inner workings of gangs involved in activities from drug trafficking to human trafficking.
The report primarily discusses criminal networks' strategy to infiltrate the legal affairs world, which aids criminal activity, acts as a façade to hide crimes and provides a means to launder criminal profits.
Currently, around 86% of Europe's most threatening criminal groups are leveraging "legal business structures". The construction and real estate sectors, alongside hospitality and logistics, are the most vulnerable targets.
Europol indicates that gangs commonly use real estate for money laundering, often employing lawyers or financial experts "who sometimes ignore the criminal origin of the assets".
Nightclub establishments are frequently associated with drug trafficking, extortion and racketeering, as well as human and weapons trafficking, according to the agency.
In the logistics sector, especially in large European ports, private sector workers are "regularly" targeted for corruption as they can "facilitate unrestricted access to ports and port systems".
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The most dangerous gangs in Europe predominantly focus on drug trafficking – cocaine, cannabis, heroin and synthetic drugs – with their operations mostly located in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain.
Dubai has "become a remote coordination centre" where high-ranking gang members reside to avoid detection by law enforcement agencies.
Many of these threatening criminal networks have existed for several years, with a third operational for over a decade, and some have even proven capable of continuing their operations from prison.
