106 people linked to Italian Mafia arrested by Europol

According to the European police, an organized crime organization that generated €10 million last year via internet fraud, drug trafficking, and property crimes has been dismantled. A cybercriminal network linked to the Italian mafia was recently disrupted by the Spanish National Police (Policía Nacional), Italian National Police (Polizia di Stato), Europol, and Eurojust. Police in Spain and Italy have detained 106 people they claim are members of an “organized crime gang linked to the Italian mafia” that orchestrated large-scale cybercrime operations.

106 arrests were made, 16 house searches were performed, and hundreds of credit cards, SIM cards, point-of-sale (POS) terminals, and electronic gadgets were confiscated during police operations in Italy and the Canary Islands tourist destination, Tenerife. A marijuana farm was also uncovered and destroyed. As part of the international law enforcement operation, 118 bank accounts were blocked.

Following the arrest of the cybercriminal, law enforcement officers stated that this group of people was primarily involved in cybercrime such as SIM-card swapping, phishing, and vishing, as well as attempting to understand company networks, steal funds, or trick employees into transferring payments to accounts managed by threat actors.

According to Europol “This vast criminal enterprise was well-organized in a pyramid structure, with many specialized areas and functions. Computer specialists, who developed the phishing domains and carried out the cyber scam, money muling recruiters and coordinators, and money laundering experts, including expertise in cryptocurrency, were among the criminal group’s members.”

The operation was aided by Europol’s Joint Cybercrime Action Taskforce (J-CAT). The whole standing operational team consists of cyber liaison officers from other nations as well as those from the same department working on high-profile cybercrime investigations.