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DPA quoted Catherine de Bol, executive director of the European Police Cooperation Agency (Europol), as saying that organized crime is spreading in Europe and related violence has increased, which is a problem in many countries, including Germany.
“Organized crime is growing. It exploits every weakness,” de Boer concluded in an interview with Der Spiegel magazine.
She gave a specific example for the German version: Drug trafficking has increased, fueling violence. The BTA quoted De Bol as saying that cocaine production was booming in South and Central America and that Europe was also being flooded with the drug.
The head of Europol noted that trade in other types of drugs was also growing. “The situation is dramatic,” she warned.
According to Europol data There are 821 major criminal networks across the EU, with a total of more than 25,000 members. Their main business is drug trafficking, the Hague-based agency concluded in a recently published analysis.
De Boer also told Der Spiegel that much of the money Europe makes from drugs stays on the continent and is invested in local economies. “This makes organized crime one of the greatest dangers of our time,” she warned.
Police need technology, powers and people to disrupt criminal networks“If we don’t invest more, we will lose this battle,” stressed Europol’s executive director.
Der Spiegel cited the example of a clash between German and Dutch drug gangs in the Cologne region of West Germany, where criminals placed explosives in front of homes and offices and kidnapped people to exert pressure.
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