“Crime gangs look to clean up as Europe’s black market balloons,” headlines the Financial Times in a frontpage story detailing the soaring trade in counterfeit goods throughout Europe.

Some crime syndicates now include members from up to 60 countries and have adapted to the contemporary recession economy, broadening their range of merchandise from simply luxury brands such as Gucci, to more mundane items such as household detergents, Rob Wainwright, the head of Europe’s police agency Europol, tells the economic daily.

“Declining spending power increases social tolerance for the black market economy,” says the FT, quoting Wainwright. The newspaper adds that other gangs are engaging in more sophisticated criminal ventures –