3.11 Organised crime

The scale, sophistication and violent consequences of organised crime have become a serious threat to the EU’s security. Organised crime groups (OCGs) continue to endanger the values and functioning of our society, the safety, well-being and fundamental rights of our citizens, and the preservation of our economies and the rule of law.

Eurojust’s operational support to organised crime cases

In 2024, Eurojust handled more than 1 000 organised crime cases, approximately half of which were newly opened in 2024. There was a slight increase in the number of joint investigation teams and coordination meetings the Agency organised to facilitate judicial cooperation in this area.

In 2024, Eurojust continued to contribute to the EMPACT Operational Action Plan on High Risk Criminal Networks (HRCN), which aims to identify and investigate high-value targets.

In 2024, Eurojust co-led four operational actions under this EMPACT priority, supporting judicial and law enforcement authorities’ activities against organised criminal networks. Due to the poly-criminality associated with high-risk criminal networks, the operational actions tackled a wide range of crime areas.

During the year, Eurojust collaborated with Europol under the HRCN EMPACT priority by contributing to the Standard Operating Procedures for the Selection of High Value Targets, the Establishment of Operational Task Forces, and intelligence efforts regarding the most threatening networks operating in the EU and beyond.

Strategic developments impacting Eurojust’s organised crime casework

The complex and fast-evolving nature of serious crime in Europe makes strengthening international judicial coordination an absolute necessity. To this end, in June 2024, EU Justice and Home Affairs ministers approved the establishment of a network of specialised prosecutors in the area of organised crime. This priority action was swiftly implemented by Eurojust, which launched the new European Judicial Organised Crime Network (EJOCN) at its premises in September 2024.

The EJOCN has been set up to go beyond only investigation-based collaboration to ensure that organised crime is fought strategically. The network’s first priority is to combat drug-related organised crime (see section 3.6), but it will also address the many other areas of organised crime, such as money laundering, migrant smuggling, cybercrime and more (see chapter 2).

Large-scale anti-mafia operations in Italy, Brazil, Switzerland and China

CRIME: A notorious mafia organisation undertakes an elaborate scheme to launder money from Italy to Brazil. The main suspect sets up several companies in Brazil using straw men and shell companies. The companies are used to hide the criminal gains of Italian mafia organisations.

Action: A first large-scale anti-mafia operation takes place in August 2024 in Italy, Switzerland and Brazil, followed by a second one in Italy, Hong Kong and Brazil in October 2024.

Result: The first operation leads to the arrest of a member of a mafia family and the freezing of assets worth EUR 50 million. The second operation leads to the arrest of four suspects, the seizure of EUR 350 000 and nine companies in Italy, Hong Kong and Brazil.

Eurojust's role: Since 2022, the Italian and Brazilian authorities have been investigating the activities of the mafia organisation through a Eurojust-supported JIT. The Agency provides the necessary legal and logistical support to the national authorities within the JIT to ensure the success of the operations.