Organized crime

Organized Crime Groups Diversifying Activities: EU Report

An estimated 3,600 organized crime groups operate within the European Union, and they are increasingly diversifying the scope of their illicit activities, according to the EU’s  Serious and Organized Crime Threat Assessment (SOCTA), released on Tuesday.Traditional criminal activity, namely drug trafficking and money laundering, remain the most prevalent pursuits of organized crime groups, although economic crimes and fraud are “increasingly emerging as significant threats,” the report said. One scheme that has gained popularity is called Missing Trader Intra-Community Fraud. This scheme exploits Value Added Tax (VAT) and costs EU nations at least 100 billion euros annually, according to the SOCTA report.