Europol has identified 731 active criminal networks with more than 400,000 members across Europe. The police appear largely powerless.
The criminal gangs have members from as many as 118 countries and can therefore largely be regarded as an obvious consequence of mass immigration from non-Western countries.
The influx from the MENAPT countries into Europe has been ongoing for at least 60 years, but exploded after Angela Merkel’s famous declaration, “Wir schaffen das!” on 31 August 2015, when the war in Syria created what was called the refugee crisis, but which for Europeans became a migration crisis.
Drugs and Human Trafficking
The criminal networks often operate across national borders and are highly professional. They do not hesitate to use extreme violence. There is also a clear trend of criminal gangs laundering money obtained through serious crime.
Large sums of money are generated through, among other things, drug smuggling, human trafficking or violence, and in the worst cases contract killings. The profits are invested in legitimate companies, which are then exploited for other forms of fraud and financial crime, where the penalties are less severe.
The gangs are active in everything from drug trafficking and cybercrime to migrant smuggling, human trafficking, fraud and money laundering.
They also make extensive use of digital technology, global trade and geopolitical instability in their operations.
Two years ago, Europol presented the first comprehensive study of criminal networks in Europe. At that time, it identified 821 networks. (NTB-DPA)
The masterminds, those who retain most of the proceeds, usually escape punishment. Økokrim recently published a report documenting this.
Criminal networks have changed tactics, warns Norway’s economic crime agency
At the same time, Islamists are entering politics, something we see particularly in Sweden, the United States and the United Kingdom, but also in other European countries. This is celebrated by Norwegian politicians affiliated with parties that used to be regarded as centre-right with a touch of conservative values. Now the journey goes directly from visiting Islamists in New York to celebrating Pride in Oslo.
Hard Core
According to Europol’s study, 76 per cent of today’s networks are new, but a hard core of 198 networks remains. If some criminal leaders are arrested, replacements emerge immediately. As a result, the authorities’ attempts at resistance appear largely futile.
Although the arrest of key gang leaders can destabilise a criminal network, Europol points out that new actors quickly emerge to fill the power vacuum.
It is therefore not enough for the police simply to target key individuals. Investigators must also strike at the criminal gangs’ logistical, financial and digital infrastructure, Europol believes.
Obvious measures that might have been effective, such as deporting criminal migrants from Europe and halting the influx of new potential recruits through mass immigration, never seem able to gain a place in European politics.
Under President Donald Trump, the United States has closed its borders, halted the flow of illegal immigrants and begun deporting criminal migrants residing illegally in the United States.
European politicians, both in the Storting and in Brussels, have shown no sign of taking inspiration from this. Instead, through their support for the Democrats’ open-border policy, they express what is close to a unanimous contempt for the entire Trump team and the policies it pursues.