Europol has supported Spanish authorities (Policía Nacional) in a transnational operation against a highly-organised network involved in both migrant smuggling and drug trafficking between Spain and Morocco. Authorities believe the group smuggled over 200 people and obtained over EUR 2.5 million in profits. The action day led to the following results: 8 arrests, including the […]
Migrant smuggling: member states reach agreement on criminal law
Today the Council agreed its position on an EU law on preventing and countering migrant smuggling. The objective of this proposal is to bring member states’ criminal law closer together on issues such as the definition and sanctioning of migrant smuggling. The position agreed today will serve as the basis for upcoming negotiations with the […]
OLAF in 2021: Exposing and preventing fraud
In 2021 the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) recommended over half a billion euro to be recovered to the EU budget. Detecting and investigating increasingly adaptable fraudsters, and working on preventing fraud against the EU’s multi-billion Recovery and Resilience Facility, OLAF continued to protect the EU budget despite the continuous challenges posed by the pandemic. The […]