Europol warns of 731 criminal networks of the “multinational” in the EU, involving drugs, fraud and cybercrime are dominating and expanding rapidly.

In a period where digitization, the globalization of markets and the increasing convergence of legal and illegal economic activities are radically transforming the landscape of security in Europe, Europol’s new analysis highlights an alarming reality: hundreds of organized criminal networks now operate with structures resembling multinational companies, leveraging international connections, technological tools, and flexible business models to expand their activities into drugs, fraud, and cybercrime with ever-increasing intensity.

In a report released today, Europol reported the existence of 731 criminal networks that pose a significant threat within the European Union, with organized groups resembling global corporations more and more, according to the European Police Office.

The data

The main activity of these networks is drug trafficking, followed by fraud, cybercrime, organized property crime, and human trafficking, said Jürgen Ebner, Executive Director of Europol, speaking at a conference.

Their numbers are declining, however: in its latest report of this kind, published in 2024, Europol identified 820 criminal organizations.

Among these, approximately 200 groups—which have not yet been dismantled—are of particular concern. “They are hierarchically structured, often based on family or ethnicity, have extensive international networks, and their core operations are global,” Emberner emphasized.

“We could speak, for example, of global corporations,” he said at a press conference in Brussels. “They have an extremely solid financial foundation and make use of legal structures,” he noted.

Europol’s warning

Digitalization, technological innovation, global trade, geopolitical instability, and the growing overlap between legitimate and illicit economies offer “opportunities for criminal activity on an unprecedented scale,” Europol emphasized in its new report.

The agency emphasizes that the 731 existing transnational criminal networks present a remarkably consistent threat profile, characterized by their flexibility, their cross-border reach, their control, and their destructive nature.

They consist of more than 400,000 members from 118 nationalities.

““This report teaches us that we must invest more in coordinating actions within European logistical support platforms, such as the Ports Alliance,” the agency added.

“Europol has found that criminal groups are very adaptable… They constantly evolve, merge, and reinvent themselves, which makes them even harder to track down and dismantle,” said Magnus Bruner, European Commissioner for Home Affairs.

“These are not street gangs; they are criminal organizations,” he added during the same press conference.