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Europol’s warning: “Crime threatens the entire society”

by AI | 19.Mar 2025 | Europe in brief AI

Criminal networks skillfully exploit new technology and threaten the EU’s institutions and society as a whole. This is stated by the police cooperation Europol in a new report.

Europol's headquarters are located in The Hague, Netherlands. Europol is an EU agency that supports member states in preventing and combating all types of serious international and organized crime, cybercrime, and terrorism. Photo: EPA/LEX VAN LIESHOUT

The Hague – Criminal networks skillfully exploit new technology and threaten the EU’s institutions and entire society, according to a new report from Europol.

Organized crime is “more well-established and more destabilizing than ever before,” the report authors write.

Crime has adapted to the unstable global situation, and especially to new technology within AI, blockchains, and data management.

The report warns of increases in, among other things, cyberattacks, fraud, human trafficking, and the smuggling of weapons and drugs – where all crime categories are permeated by new technology.

“The Internet is not just a tool, it has become the main arena for crime,” says Europol chief Catherine De Bolle at a press conference.

According to the police cooperation Europol, EU countries are threatened on two fronts. Internally, through money laundering, corruption, and violence. Externally, where criminal networks act increasingly as proxies for Russia and other states in their hybrid warfare.

The report forms the basis for the direction of Brussels’ fight against organized crime over the next four years. Europol calls for more cooperation between EU countries, including increased exchange of intelligence.

(March 18)