SOCTA 2017

Drivers of crime shape the nature and impact of serious and organised crime activities.13 They include facilitating factors and vulnerabilities in society which create opportunities for criminals.

Technology

For almost all types of organised crime, criminals are deploying and adapting technology with ever greater skill and to ever greater effect. This is now, perhaps, the greatest challenge facing law enforcement authorities around the world, including in the EU.

Technological innovation continues to shape society and the economy, and by extension the serious and organised crime landscape in Europe. Criminal actors in the EU display a high degree of adaptability and creativity in exploiting and employing new technologies. While not all criminal activities are driven by technological developments, the internet and ever-increasing connectivity have an impact on virtually all types of serious and organised crime. Innovation in technology and logistics increasingly enable OCGs to commit crime anonymously, anywhere and anytime without being physically present.

The Internet of Things is constantly expanding. Connectivity of all types of devices, including phones and appliances, is increasingly a reality in households and businesses across the EU. However, these devices remain vulnerable to intrusion and criminals are already deploying techniques to compromise these devices in order to gain personal and financial information and confidential data on business transactions.

Geopolitical context

The serious and organised crime landscape in the EU is fundamentally affected by the geopolitical situation in and around Europe. The impact of conflicts on the periphery of the EU, such as in Libya and Syria, on serious and organised crime in the EU has already materialised and will continue to influence crime. Armed conflicts and poverty are the most significant push factors for migrants travelling to the EU. The emergence of new conflicts or destabilisation of countries on the periphery of the EU would sustain the migration flow to the EU. Armed conflicts close to the EU also entail the risk of returning foreign fighters as well as the large-scale trafficking of firearms originating from these regions.

Legal business structures

OCGs exploit various legal business structures and professional experts to maintain a facade of legitimacy, obscure criminal activities and profits, and to perpetrate lucrative and complex crimes. Legal business structures allow OCGs to operate in the legal economy and enable them to merge legal and illegal profits.

Key locations for crime

Key locations for crime feature well-developed transport and communication infrastructure. These locations are used to organise the global distribution of illicit commodities.

OCGs hide illicit goods among legal commodity flows, which are increasing in speed and volume and almost impossible to check thoroughly.

Criminal groups will take advantage of weaknesses in new technologies, such as automated transport systems, and exploit gaps in the legal frameworks regulating them.

Key locations for crime are characterised by several different factors: the presence of efficient transport infrastructures, proximity to or connections with source countries and consumer markets, access to business and investment opportunities, as well as demand for illicit commodities or services.

USING TECHNOLOGY TO FIGHT SERIOUS AND ORGANISED CRIME

Technology is also a significant aid to law enforcement authorities in the fight against serious and organised crime. This includes the use of advanced digital forensics tools, the deployment of predictive policing software driven by Big Data as well as drones for the monitoring of areas and large events.

  1. In 2014, Europol published a report on the future of serious and organised crime “Exploring tomorrow’s organised crime”, which highlighted key drivers for change which have an impact on serious and organised crime in the EU. The report is available on Europol’s website athttps://www.europol.europa.eu/publications-documents/exploringtomorrow% E2%80%99s-organised-crime, footnote 13