SINGAPORE - Organised crime is at risk of spreading at an epidemic level, with various groups forging alliances across jurisdictions and hiding behind the anonymity offered by the Dark Web and cryptocurrencies.

In an interview with The Straits Times on March 27, Mr Jurgen Stock, secretary-general of Interpol, said the international police organisation has been warning law enforcement agencies of the threat posed by transnational criminal groups.

He said that in recent months, Ecuador and Haiti have come under threat from organised crime. Ecuador, which is being overrun by gangs, saw 7,872 murders in 2023 – the most in the South American country’s history – while the Haitian capital is now being run by criminal groups.

Mr Stock said several cities in Northern Europe, particularly those near ports, are also seeing violence and corruption driven by organised crime groups bringing in drugs and other illicit goods.

“As a police officer with 45 years of experience, including 10 years as the secretary-general of Interpol, my decision to warn the world of the potential of an epidemic of organised crime is not taken lightly,” he said.

“Driven by online anonymity, inspired by new business models and accelerated by Covid, these organised crime groups are now working at a scale that was unimaginable a decade ago.”

Interpol, which is headquartered in Lyon, France, is in the midst of completing a report on the threat posed by transnational organised crime groups. The report will list 10 syndicates of greatest concern to the 196-member agency.

Mr Stock said transnational organised crime has become a key global security threat.

Citing human trafficking as an example, he said what began as a regional crime threat in South-east Asia has now grown into a global crisis with millions of victims.

Rich gangs

Mr Stock said organised crime is becoming increasingly global in nature, with groups acting across continents and diversifying their criminal activity. The crime groups have significant resources as well.

While drug trafficking businesses still contribute a large part of criminal groups’ income, these criminals are also varying their businesses, he added.

“We see groups clearly diversifying their criminal business using trafficking routes also for trafficking of human beings, trafficking of arms, intellectual property, stolen products and car thefts,” he said.

But the Interpol head noted that criminal gangs that started their operations from drug trafficking will continue to remain in the drug market, estimating that it will still contribute 40 per cent to 70 per cent of the gangs’ income.

He said around US$2 trillion (S$2.7 trillion) to US$3 trillion worth of illicit proceeds of crime are channelled through the global financial system each year.

“This gives an idea about the dimension of what organised crime groups are able to gain with their criminal activity,” he said, noting that the international community needs to work on being better at going after the paper trail.

A maximum of 2 per cent to 3 per cent of these criminal assets are currently being traced and confiscated by law enforcement agencies, he added. This means around 97 per cent of these illicit proceeds of crime remain in the hands of criminals, and are reinvested in criminal activity and infiltrating the legitimate economy.

In December 2023, at the close of its centennial General Assembly, Interpol, which has an office in Singapore, called on its members to urgently tackle the growth and sophistication of transnational organised crime.

It spelt out five key actions: making the fight against transnational organised crime a global national security priority; building greater cooperation among members to tackle criminal activity; increasing information sharing among nations; empowering police on the front lines; and greater investment in innovation and technology.

Singapore has experienced the impact of transnational organised crime, with an ongoing money-laundering case that has seen over $3 billion worth of assets seized and the arrest of 10 foreigners.

Investigators have alleged that several of the suspects and their associates have links to criminal syndicates in China, Cambodia and the Philippines.

Mr Stock, who declined to go into the specifics of the ongoing probe, said Singapore has been actively sharing information on the case with Interpol.

“We are receiving the dots from the Government of Singapore and the Singapore Police Force (SPF), and we help to connect the dots, catching the criminals by identifying where the illicit proceeds of crime are going to,” he said.

International operations

In the past year, Interpol has led global efforts to tackle syndicates and criminals, including those involved in cybercrime.

Mr Stock said the human trafficking and cyber scam centres have already expanded into a global network, making up to US$3 trillion a year.

In October 2023, law enforcement agencies from 27 member countries, including Singapore, launched operations that led to the rescue of 149 human trafficking victims and the arrest of 281 people. The operations involved more than 270,000 inspections and checks at 450 human trafficking hot spots.

In separate probes that ran from September to November 2023, agencies from more than 50 countries targeted groups and individuals behind phishing, malware and ransomware attacks.

Singapore police helped to take down 86 servers during the operation.

Mr Stock praised the SPF’s Anti-Scam Command, where staff from six banks, the Government Technology Agency and e-commerce platforms Carousell and Shopee are deployed to tackle scam incidents quickly.

“That is actually a model for the rest of the world and integral in organising the same close cooperation between law enforcement and the private sector on a global level,” he said.