Malta is among the five countries most affected by organised criminal gangs carrying out thefts and burglaries, according to the EU’s law enforcement agency.
In a recent report, Europol said 33 of the “most threatening” criminal networks specialising in burglaries and robberies mostly target Malta and four other countries, according to data from the nine reporting countries.
The gangs are largely made up of Croatians, Georgians, Italians and Romanians and are mafia-like in operation, the agency said.
It noted that while the majority of the most menacing criminal networks count a mix of nationalities among their members, some nationalities, especially Italians, tend to stick together more.
“The countries most affected by networks committing burglaries and thefts are France, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Spain. The most represented nationalities in these networks are Croatian, Georgian, Italian and Romanian,” the report said.
“The networks are either clan or family-based mobile organised crime groups or ‘Thieves in Law’ [career criminals],” it said, describing such gangs as having “full control” over the criminal process.
It added that some networks had also branched out into people trafficking and smuggling drugs, with the role of “scouter” a critical one within the groups’ organisational structure.
Characterising Italian mafias as having a “broad reach” across the EU and mostly active outside of Italy in six countries including Malta, Europol said such groups carried out a range of activities including drug trafficking, extortion and money laundering.
Georgian networks, meanwhile, tend to stick to property crime including burglaries and robberies, and were mainly in Malta and five other countries.
In February, Times of Malta reported how Malta had become the hideout of choice for mafia mob bosses and their henchmen following the arrest of the son of a notorious Sicilian mafia leader.
Europol’s Decoding the EU’s Most Threatening Criminal Networks report singled out 821 criminal networks operating across the bloc. It said their combined 25,000-strong members had a “severe impact” on the EU, impacting millions of lives.
Describing how it identified criminal gangs as the most threatening, Europol characterised them as being particularly agile – able to cover their tracks well and adapt to new challenges from law enforcement – and as having a strong leadership.
Their ability to operate internationally, use legal systems to their advantage – for example, for money laundering – and the level of danger they pose to society were also important factors.
“Half of the most threatening criminal networks are involved in drug trafficking as their main activity. Other crime areas include fraud, property crime, migrant smuggling and people trafficking,” it said.
“Not all criminal networks use violence and corruption to support their businesses, but when they do, it heightens their threat level. These tools mutually reinforce each other and damage the fabric of our society.”
Europol collaborated with law enforcement agencies in member states and partner countries outside the EU while preparing the report, published earlier this month.