GETTY Migrant smuggling in Europe 'comparable to drug markets' in scale and profitability says Europol

FREE now SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Make the most of your money by signing up to our newsletter fornow We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights.

Criminal gangs are said to have raked in huge sums of money amid the surge in numbers attempting to reach the continent. A report from Europol, the EU's law enforcement agency, describes migrant smuggling as a “highly profitable and widespread criminal activity”. The 60-page study said: “The migrant smuggling business is now a large, profitable and sophisticated criminal market, comparable to the European drug markets."

Researchers found that the demand for smuggling services had grown significantly since 2014.

The migrant smuggling business is now a large, profitable and sophisticated criminal market, comparable to the European drug markets Europol report

Figures suggested networks offering “facilitation services” to either reach or move within the EU generated an estimated 4.7 billion euro to 5.7 billion euro in profit in 2015, equivalent to between £4.1 billion and £5 billion at current exchange rates. These profits dipped last year, falling by nearly two billion euro, or £1.7 billion at today's rates, according to the assessment. It said: “This development is in line with the overall decrease in the number of irregular migrants arriving in the EU and as a result of a fall in the prices for migrant smuggling services following the peak of the migration crisis in 2015.“

GETTY Migrants arriving at the port of Salerno, Italy

Europe in Crisis Sun, February 5, 2017 Terrorism, migrants, and crippling debt: is this the end of Europe? Play slideshow 1 of 11

Migrant smugglers originating from over 122 countries were involved in facilitating the journeys of irregular migrants to the EU, according to the study, while gangs relied heavily on social media to advertise their services. The findings emerged in the agency's serious and organised crime threat assessment for 2017. It revealed that more than 5,000 international organised crime groups were under investigation in the EU. There had been a sharp increase in the proportion of gangs involved in more than one criminal activity, 45 per cent now compared to 33 per cent in 2013.

GETTY Illegal migrants caught by rescue workers and the police

The wide-ranging assessment, described as the most comprehensive study of serious and organised crime in the EU ever undertaken, also said: • The profits generated by some successful groups and individual criminals were enormous and rivalled those of multi-national corporations; • Drug production, trafficking and distribution remained the largest criminal markets in the EU; • The use of fraudulent documents was on the rise, and the sale or rental of travel or identity papers such as passports was an increasing concern; • Gangs used online services to facilitate burglaries, including by checking on social media whether possible victims were away from home;

GETTY Migrants crossing border from Hungary into Austria