Europol reports 731 criminal networks with 400,000 members

A new report from Europol has identified 731 of the most threatening criminal networks operating across the European Union, comprising more than 400,000 members from 118 nationalities. The findings, presented by officials in Brussels on Friday, June 26, 2026, reveal a fivefold increase in the membership of these syndicates over the past two years.

The report, titled "Decoding the EU's Most Threatening Criminal Networks," details the scale and sophistication of operations primarily focused on drug trafficking, fraud, and migrant smuggling. Officials stated that while law enforcement dismantled 623 criminal groups between 2024 and 2026, 533 new ones emerged to take their place.

EU Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner, presenting the report, stated that criminals are thriving. He described the groups as highly flexible organizations that shift, merge, and reinvent themselves constantly, making them harder to track and dismantle. A key characteristic is their use of legitimate business structures, with 85 percent of the identified networks exploiting legal fronts to facilitate crime, a figure largely unchanged from two years ago.

Jürgen Ebner, Acting Executive Director of Europol,...