Latin American criminal networks expand across 12 European countries

Cocaine seizures in Europe rose 471% from 2014 to 2024

A four-month investigation by The Guardian has found that Latin American criminal organizations have forged close ties with European mafia networks and are now active in at least 12 European countries. The investigation, utilizing police and intelligence-agency databases and interviews with judges, prosecutors and experts from eight countries, identified cartels and factions from Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, Venezuela, Mexico and the United States operating across the continent. Between 2014 and 2024, cocaine seizures in Europe rose 471% and more local laboratories processing cocaine derivatives were dismantled, the investigation found.

The 12-country figure includes only groups officially identified through police operations, transnational investigations and ongoing court cases involving brokers, active members, cells or operational networks, the investigation said. The actual count could be higher because the figure does not include gangs that lack a physical presence in Europe while working in “joint ventures” with European criminal organizations.

Named organizations in the investigation include Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel and the Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG); Colombia’s Clan del Golfo and the guerrilla organizations ELN and dissident factions of Farc; Brazil’s Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and Comando Vermelho; Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua; and the U.S.-originated Barrio 18 and MS-13 gangs, which are also prevalent in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and, to a lesser degree, in Mexico.

The groups have built their most prominent presence in Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium and France, the investigation found, while activities have also been documented in Germany, Romania, Croatia and Slovakia. The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (Gi-Toc) also includes Bulgaria.

Daniel Brombacher, a political scientist and director of the Europe Observatory at Gi-Toc, said: “There is something new happening with a presence of Latin American groups in geographies where there’s no pre-existing infrastructure.” He added: “This phenomenon is no longer limited to the traditional gateway countries. Recent police operations have uncovered Mexican-run methamphetamine labs in southern France, north-eastern Poland and Brandenburg, south of Berlin. Latin American groups are also appearing in Romania and Bulgaria along the Balkan route.”

An unpublished report by the São Paulo public prosecutor’s office, partly based on data from Brazil’s intelligence agency (Abin) and reviewed by the Guardian, indicates that the PCC — now Brazil’s biggest criminal group — operates in 16 European countries, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Iceland, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey.

The expansion has been fueled by a surge in Latin American production. Drug production in the region has increased roughly fourfold over the past decade to reach a record of about 4,100 tonnes in 2024, the investigation found, with growth of up to 35% at the beginning of the decade. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime’s 2026 World Drug Report on illicit crimes states that global cocaine production in 2024 was between 3,800 and 4,700 tonnes — more than four times higher than in 2014. South America remains the main production hub, with coca cultivation covering a record 385,000 hectares over the past decade, three times the 2014 figure.

The investigation found that more cocaine is now produced in Colombia than during the era of Pablo Escobar, and that nearly all the world’s cocaine originates from Latin America, particularly Colombia. Europe has emerged as a key market because it offers organizations higher profit margins than the United States, the investigation said. Since the beginning of the decade, European police have confiscated more drugs than American forces, and data indicates that Europe now represents about a quarter of global consumption.

Europol recently reported that out of 731 “most threatening criminal networks” operating across Europe, 149 are connected to Latin American organizations. Of these, 67 have Latin American members, and 22 mainly consist of Latin Americans. A Europol report this year stated that “Latin American MTCNs [most threatening criminal networks] have also settled in the EU, from where they direct operations that affect the EU. This is particularly the case for mobile criminal networks involved in organised property crime.”

The suspicion that Latin American cartels are seeking to become established in Europe is not new. Since at least the 1980s, Colombian criminal organizations such as the Cali and Medellín cartels had footholds in Spanish regions such as Galicia, and a 2013 Europol report warned of their rise, the investigation noted. The current scale, however, is on another level from the historical pattern.

Víctor Manuel Sánchez Valdés, an academic at the Autonomous University of Coahuila in Mexico who studies organized crime, said: “The main ones are the Sinaloa cartel and the Jalisco cartel [CJNG] in Mexico; the Comando Vermelho and the PCC of Brazil; the Gulf Clan and different factions of the Colombian Farc; the Lobos and the Choneros of Ecuador; and Tren de Aragua of Venezuela.” He said the Latin American presence in Europe is more widespread than generally recognized: “Sinaloa cartel and the CJNG have a presence in more than 20 European countries. Obviously, that does not mean they dominate or have large cells. Rather, they are business emissaries.”

The investigation said Interpol, led by Brazilian federal police officer Valdecy Urquiza, was approached for comment but did not respond.