EUROPEAN UNION SERIOUS AND ORGANISED
CRIME THREAT ASSESSMENT 2017
Report
Organised Crime (SOCTA/OCTA)
Crime in the age of technology
The European Union (EU) Serious and Organised
detailed analysis of the threat of serious and
organised crime facing the EU providing
Crime Threat Assessment (SOCTA) 2017 is a
information for practitioners, decision-makers
and the wider public. Europol is the EU’s law
enforcement agency and assists the 28 EU
international crime and terrorism. For the SOCTA
2017, Europol has undertaken the largest-ever
data collection on serious and organised crime in
the EU. Europol relied on thousands of
contributions by Member States, Europol’s
and our institutional partners as well as
operational intelligence held in Europol’s
databases to produce the most detailed
Member States in their fight against serious
operational and strategic partners outside the EU
assessment of the nature and scale of criminal
threats facing the EU and its Member States.
Serious and organised crime in the EU features a
great variety of criminal activities, which are
increasing in complexity and scale. Criminals
quickly adopt and integrate new technologies
into their modi operandi or build brand-new
business models around them. The use of new
technologies by organised crime groups (OCGs)
has an impact on criminal activities across the
includes developments online, such as the
expansion of online trade and widespread
spectrum of serious and organised crime. This
1