More than 5,000 international organised crime groups are operating throughout the EU, up from 3,600 in 2013.
Europol, the EU police agency, said in a report on Thursday (9 March) that the latest figure is more a reflection of an improved intelligence picture rather than an absolute increase in the number of gangs.
"It is also an indication of shifts in criminal markets and the emergence of smaller groups and individual criminal entrepreneurs," said Europol's director Rob Wainwrigh...
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