Serious and organised crime is resilient and versatile and continues to evolve and adapt to reduce the risks to its own business, maximise profits, exploit new opportunities and evade law enforcement. So says Europol, the policing agency of the European Union, in its Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment, the EU SOCTA 2021.
As published by Europol every four years, it details how criminal networks operate in the EU and how as a ‘modern hydra’ they threaten to undermine societies, economy and institutions, and erode the rule of law. As an example of how crime affects society and the economy, the report says: “Food security and food safety will become increasing
concerns. Environmental crimes with significant impact on biodiversity (such as illegal fishing, illegal logging, and wildlife poaching) are very difficult to detect. Fraud related to food and the distribution of counterfeit products and beverages will increase, leading to a decline in consumer trust.”
Covered are cybercrime, the trade in illegal drugs and illegal firearms and explosives, environmental crime, fraud, sporting match fixing and betting-related scams. ‘people as a commodity’, document fraud, product counterfeiting and intellectual property crime, currency counterfeiting and organised property crime.
The document warns as for the COVID-19 pandemic that criminal groups have quickly adapted to profit from the new business opportunities, taking advantage of increased and widespread demand for products. Hence the supply of counterfeit and substandard medical equipment, sanitary and pharmaceutical products increased significantly on the surface and dark web. Impact of the pandemic on on the drug markets has been ‘relatively limited’. Aside from initial and localised disruptions in the supply and distribution of drugs during the first lockdown, the trafficking of drugs has continued, according to the report.
As for cyber, that young people with tech skills are unable to gain employment in their chosen fields may mean they turn to crime to finance themselves, the report suggests. “This may result in a significant increase in the number of individuals engaging in cybercrime or offering cybercrime-related services.”
Europol’s Executive Director Catherine De Bolle said: “With the launch of the SOCTA 2021, Europol has harnessed its position as the nerve centre of the EU’s internal security architecture with its platforms, databases, and services connecting law enforcement authorities across the EU and beyond. The intelligence picture and assessment presented in the SOCTA 2021 is a stark reminder of the dynamic and adaptable adversary we face in serious and organised crime in the EU.”
For the 108-page report, visit the Europol website.
Comment
Ilia Kolochenko, CEO, Founder and Chief Architect at ImmuniWeb pointed to how street and organized crime are gradually using digital transformation to hinder police investigations, increase profits and expand criminal businesses.
“We are dealing with a mature, well-organized and international network of crime. Sadly, most law enforcement agencies are currently unequipped and understaffed to timely discover, intercept and decrypt digital communications from perpetrators.
“Worse, many gangs aptly leverage lawful online platforms and messengers for their transactions to ensure the criminal activity gets lost in the noise. By creating temporary accounts, obfuscating their messages with creative stenography techniques, hackers become technically untraceable and uncatchable. While digital currencies are the new rocket fuel for the criminal ecosystem that provides secrecy and impunity.
“This is an extremely dangerous and alarming trend as governments will soon have to select between privacy protection and investigation of serious crimes. It is not impossible to hypothesize that some countries will start imposing mandatory interception, retention and inspection of all digital communications in their jurisdictions, while usage of undecipherable communications will be flatly prohibited.
“It is likewise a myth that governments cannot control cryptocurrencies: a national law criminalising mere possession of governmentally unapproved digital coins or tokens – may be perfectly constitutional and enforceable in many countries. We will likely see an increase of regulatory regimes soon around the globe.”
