The intelligence picture

A robust intelligence picture on the organised crime landscape is key for prioritizing investigations on most relevant criminal actors and networks. Furthermore, at the strategic level, it can contribute to better equip law enforcement agencies and all stakeholders with adequate tools to target the main criminal actors and groups. However, the intelligence picture on organised crime and networks is insufficiently developed across the EU. To develop it further, it is necessary to ensure that Member States have the capacity to produce strategic, tactical, and operational intelligence that is up to date and that reflects the constantly evolving and flexible nature of criminal networks. Moreover, Member States have diverging methodologies at local, regional and national level to elaborate the intelligence picture and criteria to identify and select high risk targets and criminal networks, making it difficult to compare across the EU the level of threat from organised crime. In addition, cooperation with relevant actors that can contribute to the intelligence picture on organised crime, such as academia, could be further exploited.

Cross border investigations

Providing law enforcement and judicial authorities with the knowledge, skills and means to carry out more effective cross border investigations into organised crime groups and networks considering evolving criminal modus operandi and business models.

This could include: • Facilitating the exchange of knowledge for law enforcement authorities on analysis of large unstructured data sets and the collection and handling of evidence. • Promoting and supporting operational initiatives on cross border and joint investigations on high-risk criminal actors and criminal networks active in EU, including in regions with an important presence of organised crime groups. • Supporting the exchange of information and best practices between law enforcement and/or judicial authorities, including regarding training, sharing of practical guidelines and templates on international investigative tools, analysis papers or guidelines aiming at enhancing investigations and prosecutions in relation to high-risk criminal actors and networks. • Training on and supporting the use of the investigative tools and information exchange channels, (such as: Information Exchange Directive, automated data exchange under the Prüm framework, SIENA, SIS). • Facilitating raising awareness, using and handling main EU tools and channels to support actions and investigations on organised crime with the purpose of promoting cross border investigations (e.g. Siena, Prüm, new Information Exchange Directive, Europol High Value Targets/ Operational Task Force, Joint Investigative Teams, Joint Action Days, European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats EMPACT, European Investigative Order, European Arrest Warrant, etc.).

Financial investigations

Promoting the use of financial investigations, aimed at enabling a better use of financial intelligence by law enforcement authorities, to enable competent authorities to build the financial profile of criminal networks.

This could include: • Supporting financial investigations on corporate structures used for money laundering and infiltrating the legitimate economy. • Facilitating cooperation with the private sector. • Facilitating the analysis of relevant account and transaction data and its crosschecking against different datasets (open sources and public databases, including police or judicial databases). • Developing tools for the secure electronic transmission of transaction records to law enforcement authorities. • Developing virtual currency analysis. • Increasing knowledge of conducting financial investigations and financial trails in the framework of investigations on high-risk criminal networks. • Developing tools for supporting investigations on organised crime facilitating gathering financial and asset tracing information.

Crime Prevention

Supporting projects on improving knowledge, allowing for networking and exchange of experiences among a broad range of stakeholders in all EU Member States on crime prevention at EU level in order to reduce the risk of crimes occurring, including by setting up barriers to prevent criminals from committing crimes.

This could include: • Facilitating the exchange and further development of knowledge and best practices on crime prevention for policymakers and practitioners at national, regional and local level (with specific focus on prevention of organised crime), supporting cooperation among a broad range of relevant stakeholders at national, regional and local level, supporting the practical implementation of evidence-based practices across the EU and advising EU institutions and bodies on aspect of crime prevention, including in particular organised crime. • Preventing and disrupting criminal infiltration through the use of the administrative approach, which enables local authorities to intervene to stop crime from occurring. Projects could aim at facilitating local to local authorities’ cooperation with each other and with law enforcement, provide training to local and police authorities, facilitate the mapping of possible activities to build barriers against criminal activities, and promote a culture of prevention and early intervention regarding the infiltration of organised crime in the legal economy. • Projects aimed at identifying best-practices and implementing targeted prevention activities addressing the growing violence related to organised crime, including drug trafficking, with a particular attention to protecting young people from recruitment into crime, including via digital tools.

Drug related priorities:

• Drug production and trafficking

This could include: • Projects that support the implementation of actions in the EU Action Plan against drug trafficking to be included in the implementation framework of the EU Drugs Strategy, such as but not exclusively those focussed on: a) monitoring and controlling international transport routes (air including general aviation, maritime, land) including drones and submersibles; b) civil-military cooperation e.g. on interdiction operations; c) innovation in detecting illicit drugs and psychoactive substances and their precursors in view of new concealment techniques inter alia in postal items and via express services. or to counter the use of transportation modalities; d) multidisciplinary information sharing between customs and (other) law enforcement authorities or between law enforcement/customs and the private sector; e) drug trafficking in and from prisons; f) setting up fusion centres and joint operational mechanisms with key third countries. • Projects to counter drug production in the EU including the use of (imported) precursors and to look into export of illicit drugs and psychoactive substances from the Union. • Projects supporting the resilience of the logistic hubs, including through activities aimed at identifying, disseminating and implementing best practices as well as via operational cooperation between law enforcement, customs authorities and between private entities and public sector authorities, such as the European Ports Alliance – the public-private partnership to fight drug trafficking through ports- , with a view to reinforce the instruments available to prevent, identify and investigate drug trafficking.

• Preparedness against drug related security threats

This could include: • Projects to reinforce real time risk assessments, risk awareness and increase swift follow-up actions in view of anticipating and addressing security threats and prevent health, social and environmental harms due to the production and availability of illicit drugs and psychoactive substances, in particular new substances.