In the fight against organized crime, European investigators have confiscated billions – but that is only a tiny part of the criminal profits. According to a report by the European police agency Europol, an estimated average of 4.1 billion euros in assets were confiscated in the EU in 2020 and 2021.
However, the amount of confiscated proceeds is still too low: less than two percent of the estimated annual proceeds from organized crime are confiscated, the authority announced on Monday in Brussels.
Many criminal actors operate outside the EU
“Organized crime has built a parallel global criminal economy around money laundering, illicit financial transfers and corruption,” said Europol Executive Director Catherine De Bolle. One challenge is that many criminal actors are based outside the EU and they are rapidly evolving the techniques they use.
Up to 70 percent of criminal networks use various forms of money laundering to finance their activities, it said. 80 percent abuse legal business structures for crimes.
