Serious and Organised Crime: A Corrupting Influence - SOCTA 2021

Europol has published its 2021 Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment (SOCTA).

SOCTA 2021 provides a sobering analysis that has relevance not only in Europe but in all developed and developing countries.

The SOCTA 2021 highlights key characteristics of serious and organised crime such as the widespread use of corruption, the infiltration and exploitation of legal business structures for all types of criminal activity, and the existence of a parallel underground financial system that allows criminals to move and invest their multi-billion profits. 

Key findings of the SOCTA 2021:

• Serious and organised crime has never posed as high a threat as it does today.
• The COVID-19 pandemic and the potential economic and social fallout expected to follow threaten to create ideal conditions for organised crime to spread and take hold in the EU and beyond. A key characteristic of criminal networks is their agility in adapting to and capitalising on changes in the environment in which they operate. Obstacles become criminal opportunities.
• Like a legitimate business environment, the core of a criminal network is composed of managerial layers and field operators. This core is surrounded by a range of actors linked to the crime infrastructure providing support services.
• With nearly 40 per cent of the criminal networks active in drugs trafficking, the production and trafficking of drugs remain the largest criminal business. 
• The trafficking and exploitation of human beings, migrant smuggling, online and offline frauds and property crime pose significant threats. 
• Criminals employ corruption. Almost 60% of the criminal networks reported engaging in corruption.
• The scale and complexity of money laundering activities have previously been underestimated. Professional money launderers have established a parallel underground financial system and use any means to infiltrate and undermine Europe’s economies and societies. 
• Legal business structures are used to facilitate virtually all types of criminal activity. More than 80% of the criminal networks active in the EU use legal business structures for their criminal activities. 
• The use of violence by criminals involved in serious and organised crime appears to have increased in terms of the frequency of use and its severity. The threat from violent incidents has been augmented by the frequent use of firearms or explosives in public spaces.
• Criminals are digital natives. Virtually all criminal activities now feature some online component and many crimes have fully migrated online. Criminals exploit encrypted communications to network with each other, use social media and instant messaging services to reach a larger audience to advertise illegal goods, or spread disinformation.

Link to SOCTA 2021