THE HAGUE — The coronavirus pandemic could fuel organized crime for years to come in Europe, a continent already at “breaking point” from an unprecedented flood of cocaine, the EU’s policing agency warned Monday.
In its flagship four-yearly report, Europol said increasingly violent criminal gangs are likely to muscle in on legitimate businesses left vulnerable by the economic damage caused by Covid-19.
Criminals are also offering fake coronavirus vaccines and home-testing kits as they seek to capitalize on global efforts to recover from the virus, the Hague-based agency said.
“We are at the breaking point,” Europol’s director Catherine De Bolle told AFP in an interview.
“Th…
Keep on reading: COVID, cocaine take Europe to ‘breaking point’—Europol