NCJ Number
215736
Date Published
2006
Length
26 pages
Annotation
The intent of this report is to develop a threat assessment of current and expected new trends in organized crime across the European Union, to help decisionmakers identify strategic priority areas in the fight against serious and organized crime, and to initiate an intelligence process to define operational targets.
Abstract
In relation to organized crime (OC) groups, a dynamic relationship is drawn between the various indicators employed in the analysis, such as the international dimension, group structures, use of legitimate business, specialization, influence, use of violence, and countermeasures. Four main categories of organized crime groups can be identified: (1) principally territorially based, indigenous OC groups, with extensive transnational activities; (2) mainly ethnically homogeneous groups with their leadership and main assets abroad; (3) dynamic networks of perpetrators, whose organizational setup is less viable to attack from a law enforcement perspective; and (4) OC groups based on strictly defined organizational principles without an ethnic component, coupled with a large international presence. The criminal markets of drug trafficking, exploitation of trafficking in human beings and illegal immigration, fraud, Euro counterfeiting, commodity counterfeiting and intellectual property theft, and money laundering are found to attract focused attention on the common European Union (EU) level. There is a need for close attention on key criminals, their networks, the financial dimension of the OC groups and their ability to communicate within and between one another. The functional side of OC must be at the forefront of the attention. This focus would enable a targeted approach against OC.