Trade in migrants ‘now rivals market for drugs’
MIGRANT SMUGGLING has expanded so dramatically in Europe that it is now comparable to the illegal drugs market, a major new report has warned.
Criminal gangs are said to have raked in huge sums of money amid the surge in numbers attempting to reach the continent.
A report published by Europol, the EU’s law enforcement agency, describes migrant smuggling as a “highly profitable and widespread criminal activity”.
The 60-page study claimed that the migrant smuggling business is now a “large, profitable and sophisticated criminal market” which is “comparable to the European drug markets”.
Researchers found that the demand for smuggling services had grown significantly since 2014.
Figures suggested networks offering “facilitation services” to either reach or move within the EU generated an estimated 4.7bn euro to 5.7bn euro in profit in 2015, equivalent to between £4.1bn and £5bn at current exchange rates.
These profits dipped last year, falling by nearly 2bn euro, or £1.7bn at today’s rates, according to the assessment.
It said: “This development is in line with the overall decrease in the number of irregular migrants arriving in the EU and as a result of a fall in the prices for migrant smuggling services following the peak of the migration crisis in 2015.”
Migrant smugglers originating from over 122 countries were involved in facilitating the journeys of irregular migrants to the EU, according to the study, while gangs relied heavily on social media to advertise their services.
The findings emerged in the agency’s serious and organised crime threat assessment for 2017.
It revealed that more than 5,000 international organised crime groups were under investigation in the EU.
The report said criminals were deploying and adapting technology “with ever greater skill and to ever greater effect”.
Europol’s director Rob Wainwright said: “Criminals have always been adept at exploiting technology. However, the rate of technological innovation and the ability of organised criminals to adapt these technologies have been increasing steadily over recent years.
“Developments such as the emergence of the online trade in illicit goods and services are set to result in significant shifts in criminal markets and confront law enforcement authorities with new challenges.”
There had been a sharp increase in the proportion of gangs involved in more than one criminal activity, 45 per cent now compared to 33 per cent in 2013.