Unpacking High-Risk Criminal Networks: Bridging Gaps in Identification, Assessment, and Prevention

Session Submission Type: Pre-arranged Panel

Abstract

Since 2021, Europol and other law enforcement agencies have increasingly used the term “high-risk criminal networks.” In 2023, Europol initiated data collection from EU member states to prioritize high-profile cases. However, the concept remains ambiguous, relying on national assessments that use varying, implicit criteria without fully developed identification methodologies or consideration of harms inflicted by such networks. Additionally, the current framework does not account for the role of criminal networks in hybrid warfare and sanctions evasion, particularly in the context of the war in Ukraine.

Europol also highlights the extensive exploitation of economic sectors by high-risk criminal networks, leading to money laundering, corruption, and the erosion of trust in democratic institutions. However, understanding of how these networks operate at the local level remains limited. Local insights can reveal how they develop, expand, and can be effectively countered through administrative measures.

This panel brings together four studies addressing these critical gaps. The first paper critically examines existing conceptualizations of high-risk criminal networks, advocating for a more systematic identification methodology. The second explores the convergence of transnational organized crime and state-sponsored crime, arguing that criminal networks exploited by hostile state actors should be classified as high-risk. The third investigates how these networks infiltrate the legitimate economy at the local level to facilitate illicit activities. The final paper examines administrative approaches to countering high-risk criminal networks, identifying effective measures and their limitations across different jurisdictions.

Subtopic

• Topic 2: Types of Offending / Organized Crime (Organized Crime WG)

Chair

• Atanas Rusev, Center for the Study of Democracy

Individual Presentations

• How to identify high-risk criminal networks? A review of the academic and grey literature - Leen Gabriëls, Researcher at the Leuven Institute of Criminology, KU Leuven Faculty of Law and Criminology, Belgium; Victoria A. Greenfield, George Mason University; Letizia Paoli, KU Leuven Faculty of Law and Criminology

• The Nexus of State-Sponsored and Transnational Organized Crime - Madlen Nikolova, Senior Analyst, Center for the Study of Democracy, Bulgaria; Atanas Rusev, Center for the Study of Democracy; Roberta Koleva, Analyst, Center for the Study of Democracy, Bulgaria

• The Criminal Use of the legitimate economy by criminal networks: vulnerable economic (sub)sectors and modi operandi - Billie Baetens, Scientific Researcher, Faculty of Law and Criminology, University of Ghent; Jelle Janssens, Ghent University

• The Administrative Approach to Battle with High-Risk Criminal Networks - Lienke Hutten, Stichting Centrum voor Criminaliteitspreventie en Veiligheid; Joeri Vig, Stichting Centrum voor Criminaliteitspreventie en Veiligheid