GETTY Europol said crime bosses made billions from the migrant crisis

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Europol says there thousands of organised criminal gangs operating on an international level currently under investigation in the EU, compared to at least 3,600 criminal gangs in 2013. Around 60 per cent of the gang members are EU nationals according to Europol’s most recent report. Rob Wainwright, director of Europol, said: “This increase is primarily a reflection of a much improved intelligence picture.

“It is also an indication of shifts in criminal markets and the emergence of smaller groups and individual criminal entrepreneurs in specific criminal activities, especially those taking place online.” Many of the gangs are involved in drugs, people trafficking and migrant smuggling. According to the report, migrant smuggling in 2015 earned crime bosses up to £4.9billion (€5.7billion), with profits dropping to around £1.7billion (€2billion) last year as the number of people entering the EU illegally fell to around 510,000.

GETTY More than one million migrants entered the EU in 2015

Migrant smuggling has emerged as one of the most profitable and widespread criminal activities for organised crime in the EU Europol

Europol said: “Migrant smuggling has emerged as one of the most profitable and widespread criminal activities for organised crime in the EU. “The migrant smuggling business is now a large, profitable and sophisticated criminal market, comparable to the European drug markets.” More than one million migrants entered the EU on the Eastern Mediterranean and Central Mediterranean routes in 2015 with migrant smuggling networks displaying an “unprecedented level of organisation and coordination”.

EUROPOL Many of the gangs are involved in drugs, people trafficking and migrant smuggling

ANADOLU Rob Wainwright, director of Europol, said there has been an increase in organised crime gangs