Europe is confronting a severe threat from expanding criminal networks, with an estimated 400,000 gangsters now operating across the continent, according to a new Europol report. The figure represents a fivefold increase compared to two years ago, as officials struggle to dismantle groups that rapidly recruit and replace members.
Gangs Growing at Alarming Rate
The 54-page dossier reveals that between 2024 and 2026, European police broke up 623 gangs, but 533 new ones emerged to fill the void. Magnus Brunner, the EU's head of migration, stated: 'Criminals are thriving.' He added: 'Europol found that the criminal groups are very flexible, to put it that way. They shift, they merge, they reinvent themselves constantly making them harder to track on the one hand but also to dismantle on the other.'
Brunner emphasized that criminals have learned to hide in plain sight. The report notes that two years ago, 86% of criminal groups used legal business structures; today that figure is 85%, indicating little change. 'These are not street gangs, these are corporations of crime – 'Ndrangheta multinational corporations,' Brunner said.
International Syndicates and Drug Trafficking
Albanian crime families and the 'Ndrangheta, originating from Italy's Calabria region, are collaborating with Brazilian cartels to flood Europe with cocaine. Additionally, the Primeiro Comando da Capital, Latin America's largest drug gang, continues to impact the continent. Chinese gangs are recruiting women for sex work and trafficking them to brothels in Spain and France. Criminal profits are often hidden in restaurants, hotels, casinos, resorts, and residential developments across Europe.
Cyber Crime and Evasion Tactics
The gangs engage in drug trafficking, migrant smuggling, and cyber crime, using encrypted phones, virtual private networks, fake social media accounts, and front companies to avoid detection. Jürgen Ebner, Europol's executive director, said: 'The report clearly shows that these criminal groups that remained. They have a very strong financial back up, they use sophisticated counter-measures. They use high levels of corruption, they are globally internationally connected cells across the EU and beyond, an international enterprise.'
Ebner added: 'They operate in the fluid criminal ecosystem. When they are under law enforcement pressure they regroup they reshuffle and they can easily set up structures new, they can replace people. Targeting individual criminals is not enough for itself as long as the vulnerability remains as long as the business model survives others will step in and replace.'
