There are over 5,000 organised criminal networks operating in the European Union and, as part of efforts to dismantle them, regional authorities have initiated new research initiatives to better understand how these networks operate. Part of this is the ‘Decoding the EU’s Most Threatening Criminal Networks’ report published by the EU Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) in March, which identifies 821 organisations that pose the largest threat to the region’s internal security based on their agility, transnational links, operational control, and impact on society.

Drug trafficking is the most common activity among these networks, followed by fraud, property crime, migrant smuggling, and human trafficking. Europol’s research also found that extreme violence is more prevalent among drug trafficking organisations (along with those engaged in firearms trafficking and racketeering), compared to groups involved in other crimes, such as human trafficking. Here, we look at the key findings of Europol’s report and, given the violence associated with them, focus specifically on drug trafficking organisations and their impact on security in the region.

Drug trafficking

The EU’s illicit drugs market remains lucrative for criminal organisations and opportunities for them are growing, with the EU Drugs Agency’s European Drug Report 2024 suggesting that the range of drugs available has broadened over the past year. Half of the EU’s most threatening organisations are involved in drug trafficking, and they make use of front companies to hide substances, facilitate transshipments, and store trafficked drugs. These organisations most commonly set up legal entities in the import/export, port logistics, and transport sectors.

Like other criminal organisations, drug trafficking networks also use front companies to launder the proceeds of their crimes, with the construction, real estate, retail, and hospitality sectors among the most vulnerable to such infiltration in the EU. Elsewhere, these groups are known to exploit regulatory loopholes and corruption opportunities to facilitate their activities, which has adverse implications for EU economies and the wider global financial system – the UN Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that the annual value of laundered funds is equivalent to 2 to 5 percent of global GDP.

Impact on EU security

Drug gangs pose a security threat in the EU, as they carry out shootouts, murders, torture, and kidnappings to settle disputes, which occasionally involve using firearms and explosives in populated spaces. At times, this violence has spread beyond the underworld, and affected bystanders in several European countries in recent years.