Medicines and doping substances worth €73 million seized in Europe-wide operation

Europol coordinated operation Shield, a global effort to target trafficking of counterfeit and misused medicines and doping substances. The operation was led by Finland, France, Greece and Italy and involved law enforcement authorities from 27* countries (19 EU Member States and 8 third-party countries), the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), the Pharmaceutical Security Institute and the private sector. The operation took place between March and September 2020. 

Four arrested in a top football league match-fixing scheme

Europol supported the Moldovan National Anticorruption Centre to dismantle an organised crime group involved in match-fixing in Moldova’s top football division. Club executives, coaches, managers, football players and other intermediates are believed to be part of the network. This large-scale corruption scheme concerns half the football clubs (5 of 10) in the top division. It is believed that over five months nearly 20 football matches were fixed during the current football season (2020-2021). The criminals would influence the outcome of the games and bet mostly on the Asian market.

Close to €13 million worth of cigarettes seized at EU’s eastern borders

Law enforcement authorities seized 37 millions of illegal cigarettes and more than 3.5 thousand litres of illegal fuel this month in a ten-day operation led by Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency with the support of Europol.  The operation, known as JAD Arktos 2 and coordinated from Frontex’s headquarters in Warsaw, was co-led by Latvia and Finland and saw the involvement of border guards, police and customs officers from Poland, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia. 

Intelligence-led taskforce leads to seizures of nearly 11 tonnes of drugs

In 2015, Europol set up operation Troika with Customs and Police authorities from Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK. The taskforce focused on drug smuggling (mainly heroin, cocaine, cannabis and synthetic drugs) across Scandinavia and the UK. In the framework of the taskforce officers were able to identify numerous criminals as high-value targets and gather and develop intelligence from all EU countries. Joint days of action identified major drug transport operations to the UK, leading to large cocaine seizures.

Global action against mail order gun traffickers

Over 42 000 parcels were checked and hundreds of weapons seized as part as a joint operation targeting the trafficking of firearms to and within the EU through post and courier services. Taking place between 16-20 November, Operation ARMSTRONG VII saw the involvement of police and customs authorities from 26 countries, with international coordination efforts supported by Europol and the European Commission – DG for Taxation and Customs Union (TAXUD) and DG Migration and Home Affairs (HOME) and the Customs Cooperation Working Party (CCWP).

Europol predictions correct for fake COVID-19 vaccines

While Europe is hit by the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, testing is ongoing for potential new vaccines to treat the virus. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has announced that it will conclude evaluation of the first conditional marketing authorisation application for a COVID-19 vaccine before the end of the year. Several EU Member States have already published their vaccination plans.

Drugs in Europe: enhancing law enforcement responses to high-risk organised crime

Delegates from EU and non-EU countries and international organisations attended the 4th annual Drugs in Europe conference, Enhancing law enforcement responses to high-risk organised crime.

422 arrested and 4 031 money mules identified in global crackdown on money laundering

Today, law enforcement authorities from 26 countries and Europol announce the results of the European Money Mule Action ‘EMMA 6’, a worldwide operation against money mule schemes. Between September and November 2020, EMMA 6 was carried out for the sixth consecutive year with the support of the European Banking Federation (EBF), FinTech FinCrime Exchange, INTERPOL and Western Union.

Transnational access to electronic evidence for criminal cases: trends and latest developments within the EU and beyond

Europol, Eurojust and the European Judicial Network publish today the second annual edition of the SIRIUS EU Digital Evidence Situation Report. The report outlines the status of EU authorities in retrieving electronic data held by foreign-based online service providers (OSPs) in 2019. Cross-border access to digital information is paramount to an ever-increasing number of investigations, ranging from economic crimes and drug trafficking to terrorism, cybercrime and child sexual exploitation.

COVID-19 waste crime: Europe-wide operation to tackle unlawful sanitary waste disposal

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Europol identified the potential growth in unlawful sanitary waste treatment and disposal, as a result Europol launched operation Retrovirus. Officers carried out inspections and checks on sanitary waste plants and transportation, which were crucial in halting the illegal trafficking, storage, dumping and shipment of waste and document fraud.

Operation In Our Sites takes down 21 910 websites selling counterfeit goods

As part of the international operation ‘In Our Sites’ (IOS) XI, law enforcement authorities from 26 EU Member States and third parties have seized together with Europol and the US National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Centre over 21 910 domain names offering counterfeit and pirated items over the internet. More than €2.5 million worth of such products have been seized, including counterfeit pharmaceuticals and pirated films, illegal television streaming, music, software and other bogus products. 

Over 40 arrested in biggest-ever crackdown against drug ring smuggling cocaine from Brazil into Europe

In the early hours of the morning, over a thousand police officers with the support of Europol carried out coordinated raids against the members of this highly professional criminal syndicate. Some 180 house searches were executed, resulting in the arrest of 45 suspects.  The investigation uncovered that this drug trafficking network was responsible for the annual importation of at least 45 tonnes of cocaine into the main European seaports, with profits exceeding €100 million over the course of 6 months.

Sophisticated case of money laundering leads to 15 arrests in Malta

Fifteen people have been arrested in Malta as part of operation Proteus, a highly sophisticated money laundering case, following months of intensive investigations by the Maltese Anti-Money Laundering Section within the Financial Crime Investigations Department. During this operation, the Maltese Police seized:

Two arrests in Spain for terrorist financing

The Spanish National Police (Policía Nacional) supported by Europol, arrested two individuals for their suspected involvement in the facilitation of terrorist financing in the Spanish provinces of Madrid and Toledo. They are believed to be part of the ‘remittance office’ in Europe of the so-called Islamic State. In direct communication with jihadi fighters, this network aimed at transferring assets to conflict zones. The network had contacts in different European countries who were in charge of collecting financial contributions from followers of the so-called Islamic State.

Officers foil fraudsters from stealing €40 million in payment card scam

Carding Action 2020, an operation led by law enforcement agencies from Italy and Hungary and supported by the UK and Europol, targeted fraudsters selling and purchasing compromised card details on websites selling stolen credit card data, known as card shops, and dark web marketplaces.

Electricity bill of over €1.5 million leads police to 5 illegal marijuana plantations in Spain

Last month,  the Spanish National Police (Policia Nacional), together with the Dutch Police (Politie) and the Belgian Federal Police (Federale Politie, Police Fédérale) and Europol seized more than 34 000 plants of marijuana and arrested 17 individuals in a series of coordinated raids across the three countries. It is estimated the stolen electricity used to power the illegal indoor plantations amounted to over one and a half million euros. Results in brief

Virtual tabletop exercise coordinated by Europol: Disrupting terrorism and violent extremism online

On 23 November 2020, the EU Internet Referral Unit (EU IRU) hosted their second tabletop exercise in a virtual event held under the umbrella of the European Commission-led EU Internet Forum.

Europol Intellectual Property Crime Conference 2020

The Europol Intellectual Property Crime Conference 2020 took place on 23 November in partnership with the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition. The annual conference brings together experts in intellectual property crime (IP) and addresses the most recent innovations in enforcement strategies of intellectual property rights. The conference offered law enforcement and the private sector views on top intellectual property enforcement issues in Europe, including the importance of IP enforcement during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Over 2 000 participants from 132 countries logged on for the 4th Global Conference on Criminal Finances and Cryptocurrencies

After Doha (Qatar), Basel (Switzerland) and The Hague (the Netherlands), the fourth edition of the Global Conference on Criminal Finances and Cryptocurrencies took place online on 18 and 19 November. INTERPOL hosted this year’s conference, which gathered over 2 000 participants from law enforcement and judicial authorities, financial intelligence units, international organisations and the private sector. 

Winners announced of Europol’s 2020 Photo Competition

The wait is finally up! Capture 2020, Europol’s law enforcement photo competition, has officially come to an end. This year’s edition invited both professional and amateur photographers working for law enforcement to showcase their talent in two categories: Making Europe Safer and COVID-19 pandemic policing. We would like to thank all of the talented participants who shared their stories with us. The images we received showed the reality of law enforcement efforts to ensure the safety of European citizens during these unprecedented times

New report finds that criminals leverage AI for malicious use – and it’s not just deep fakes

A jointly developed new report by Europol, the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) and Trend Micro looking into current and predicted criminal uses of artificial intelligence (AI) was released today. The report provides law enforcers, policymakers and other organisations with information on existing and potential attacks leveraging AI and recommendations on how to mitigate these risks. 

Romanian duo arrested for running malware encryption service to bypass antivirus software

Two Romanian suspects have been arrested yesterday for allegedly running the CyberSeal and Dataprotector crypting services to evade antivirus software detection. These services have been purchased by more than 1560 criminals and used for crypting several different type of malware, including Remote Access Trojans, information stealers and ransomware. The pair also operated the Cyberscan service which allowed their clients to test their malware against antivirus tools.

Three victims of child abuse put to safety in France

French Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie Nationale) identified three victims of child abuse and arrested two married offenders. The child of the couple was among the three victims. Social services took the child into their protection while the two other victims remained with their families who were unaware of the abuse.

Experts meet to identify victims of child sexual abuse

Between 2 and 13 November 2020, Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) successfully supported efforts to identify victims of child sexual abuse through its 8th Victim Identification Taskforce. In total, 23 law enforcement experts from EU Member States and non-EU countries participated Results: Nine confirmed victims and another two victims tentatively identified.

1 776 firearms seized in international sweep against illegal trafficking of Turkish manufactured weapons

A total of 24 European countries[1] supported by EU institutions and agencies[2] including Europol, have come together to target alarm and signal weapons of Turkish origin illegally trafficked into the EU via Bulgaria and other countries. To tackle the increase in weapons illegally transformed and traded, operation BOSPHORUS was setup and led by the Romanian Police (Politia Romana) within the framework of the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT).

Traffickers supplying conflict zones with weapons and explosives disarmed in Spain

An investigation that involved the Spanish National Police (Policía Nacional), Mossos d’Esquadra and the Spanish Tax Agency (Agencia Tributaria) and supported by Europol, led to the dismantling of a large organised crime group involved arms trafficking and money laundering. The operational action took place on 12 November in the Spanish provinces of Alicante, Barcelona and Valencia.

A female wannabe martyr for the so-called Islamic State arrested in Spain

The Spanish National Police (Policía Nacional), supported by Europol, arrested a young woman, inspired by jihadist terrorism, who was willing to join fighters for the so-called Islamic State in Syria’s Idlib area.  The young woman, born and raised in Europe, had been rapidly radicalised showing her desire to become a ‘martyr’ for the so-called Islamic State terrorist organisation. She adhered to the most violent forms of terrorist ideology, showing her support for the recent beheading of a French teacher who showed cartoons of Prophet Muhammad cartoons to his students.

18 arrested and €4 million seized in large money-laundering bust in France

On 2 November, an 18-month investigation led by the French National Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie Nationale) and supported by Europol put an end to a large money-laundering network. Several raids carried out since 2019 resulted in the arrest of 18 suspects and the seizure of €4 million worth of assets. The criminal network is believed to have been involved in money laundering to the value of €90 million a year. The highly structured criminal organisation collected money in France and Spain originating from drug trafficking.

COVID-19 chiefs of police working group: fighting the pandemic and criminals together

Today, 12 November, Europol’s Executive Director, Catherine De Bolle and Vittorio Rizzi, Deputy Director-General of Public Security in Italy, co-chaired the third working group on COVID-19 crime threats and law enforcement responses. To coincide with the virtual meeting, Europol published the latest in its series of COVID-19 reports, which analyses how COVID-19 crimes have infected Europe in 2020. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Europol has produced a range of reports for law enforcement partners, policymakers and the public.

355 protected reptiles saved in Spain in hit against wildlife traffickers

An investigation, led by the Spanish Civil Guard (Guardia Civil) and supported by Europol, led to the dismantling of a large organised crime group involved in wildlife trafficking, document fraud, smuggling and money laundering. Law enforcement authorities from Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden also supported in the investigation.

Widely used illegal streaming platform switched off from Switzerland

Europol supported law enforcement from France, Germany, Monaco, the Netherlands and Switzerland to take down an organised crime group involved in intellectual property crime.  Eleven servers taken down in four countries  On the action day, law enforcement officers seized eleven servers in France, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Officers carried out nine house searches in all involved countries, arrested three suspects and seized eight bank accounts in Switzerland.

Here’s how to outsmart criminals abusing the online shopping experience this holiday season

The biggest retail season of the year is around the corner, and you do not even need to leave the comfort of your home to participate. But neither do the criminals. 

Stopping hate speech online: Europol coordinates first Europe-wide action day

In the first of its kind, Europol’s European Counter Terrorism Centre coordinated a Europe-wide joint action day to target racist and xenophobic hate speech on the internet. The operation, led by Germany, took place in Czechia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom. 

Targeting child trafficking: 388 arrested across Europe

Europol, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom coordinated a Europe-wide joint action day targeting child trafficking. The operation, also supported by Frontex, took place between 5 and 11 October 2020 and involved 12* countries.  A wide range of law enforcement authorities including police, immigration and border control agencies, transport police, social assistance and child protection services and labour inspectorates participated in the joint action.

Spain takes down terrorist cell recruiting online for the so-called Islamic State

On 28 October, Europol supported the CGI of the Spanish National Police (Comisaría General de Información de la Policía Nacional) in arresting three suspects linked to a terrorist cell actively recruiting and indoctrinating young people. The individuals, among which feature the alleged leaders of the cell, were arrested as a result of house searches carried out in San Sebastian and Pasaia in northern Spain. They are believed to have created the terrorist structure to carry out jihadist terrorism in support of the so-called Islamic State.

Poland and Spain take down international drug trafficking network associated with Kraków football hooligans

A three-year-long investigation culminated last month in 13 arrests in Poland and Spain of the alleged members of a large drug trafficking network operating in multiple European countries. Supported by Europol and Eurojust, the Polish Police Central Bureau of Investigation (Centralne Biuro Śledecze Policji), Polish Border Guard (Straż Graniczna), Spanish National Police (Policía Nacional) and the British Regional Organised Crime Units joined forces during series of coordinated action days between May 2019 and September 2020 to bring down the gang.

352 stolen vehicles seized in JAD Mobile 3 operation spanning across 22 countries

A total of 352 stolen motor vehicles have been seized on their way to their final destination as a result of the Joint Action Day (JAD) ‘Mobile 3’ supported by Europol. A further 1 077 stolen vehicles parts have been confiscated, and dozens of forged or falsified vehicles documents seized. 

Some of Europe’s most dangerous sex offenders in the spotlight

It’s happening now, every two minutes. That’s the average time a sexual offence is reported to the police in the European Union, be it rape, sexual violence or assault. Anyone can be a victim of sexual assault, although women and children suffer the most at the hands of these violent criminal acts. To turn the spotlight on the perpetrators of such violent sexual assaults, Europol is launching a campaign in 18 countries across Europe to ask for your help in finding some of Europe’s most dangerous sex offenders.

Jihadist radicalisation: an individual arrested in Spain for spreading terrorist propaganda online

The Spanish Civil Guard (Guardia Civil) arrested a supporter of the so-called Islamic State terrorist organisation in an operation developed together with Europol. The suspect was searching, editing and further disseminating terrorist propaganda material to young people online.

5 arrested after seizure of over 7 million cigarettes destined to the UK

Four of these arrests were carried out on 16 October in the Slovenian municipality of Celje. The arrested individuals are aged between 25 and 51 years old. Two vehicles worth in excess of €100 000 were also seized at the home of one of the suspects. One of the criminal leaders was also arrested in Lithuania earlier in June. 

Two underground doping labs dismantled in France

The French Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie nationale/OCLAESP) and the French Customs (Direction générale des douanes et droits indirects), supported by the Financial Division of the Hellenic Police (Διεύθυνση Οικονομικής Αστυνομίας) and Europol, took down a criminal network involved in the production and trafficking of doping substances and counterfeit medicines. 

Web-enabled sexual exploitation gang taken down by French Police

The French Judicial Police within the National Police (Police judiciaire / Police nationale) and the Colombian Police, supported by Europol, dismantled an organised criminal group involved in human trafficking for sexual exploitation and money laundering. 

Spain dismantle a terrorist organisation recruiting and indoctrinating women

On 16 October the General Commissariat of Information of the Spanish National Police (Policía Nacional - CGI) arrested two individuals for their alleged link to a terrorist organisation and on suspicion of recruiting and indoctrinating for the purpose of jihadist terrorism. During an action day supported by Europol, Spanish police raided the homes of the suspects in the cities of Melilla and Mogán in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Law enforcement seized multiple mobile and electronic devices.

The challenges of countering human trafficking in the digital era

Modern communication technologies – namely the internet, social media, and mobile applications – have significantly impacted how organised crime groups involved in international trafficking in human beings operate. Technology has broadened criminals’ ability to traffic human beings for different types of exploitation, including sexual and labour exploitation, the removal of organs, illegal adoption of children and forced marriages.

Cocaine cartel shipping from South America busted in Spain and the Netherlands

Europol supported a cross-border investigation, led by the Spanish Civil Guard (Guardia Civil), involving the Dutch Police (Politie) and US Homeland Security Investigations and Border and Protection that resulted in dismantling an organised crime group trafficking cocaine from South America to Europe. 

'Lover boys' cashing in on girlfriends arrested in France

The French Judicial Police within the French National Police (Police judiciaire, Police nationale) and the Romanian National Police (Poliția Română) supported by Europol and Eurojust, brought down an organised criminal group involved in human trafficking for sexual exploitation. 

20 arrests in QQAAZZ multi-million money laundering case

An unprecedented international law enforcement operation involving 16 countries has resulted in the arrest of 20 individuals suspected of belonging to the QQAAZZ criminal network which attempted to launder tens of millions of euros on behalf of the world’s foremost cybercriminals. 

Europol turns electronic evidence gathering into a game

As from today, Europol will be training law enforcement officers from Europe and beyond in the complex field of online investigations by using a game created specifically for the task.

EU IRU Transparency report 2019

The EU Internet Referral Unit (EU IRU), which is part of Europol’s European Counter Terrorism Centre (ECTC), started its operations in the wake of the series of terrorist attacks that shook Europe in 2015. Its mandate includes referring terrorist and violent extremist content to online service providers and providing support to Member States and third parties in the context of internet investigations.

Smoked out: one of the largest illegal cigarette factories dismantled in the Netherlands

On 7 October, the investigation service of the Dutch tax authorities, FIOD (Fiscale Inlichtingen en OpsporingsDienst), raided an illegal tobacco factory in  West-Betuwe, south of Utrecht. It is one of the largest illegal cigarette factories uncovered in the Netherlands. The factory was in full operation when law enforcement entered the premises. Thirteen suspects were arrested comprising mostly of nationals from Eastern Europe. Investigators seized 3.6 million cigarettes and 32 000 kilos of tobacco along with packaging material, cigarette paper, filters and glue.