The report inter alia highlights the following findings:

• Criminal networks active in migrant smuggling and THB engage in other crime areas to boost profits and facilitate their activities. Some of the EMSC-supported investigations revealed ties to drug or firearms trafficking, among others. Links between migrant smuggling and terrorism remain of particular concern, as terrorist elements may use the services offered by migrant smugglers to enter the EU. Moreover, profits from migrant smuggling can be used to finance terrorist activities, compounding the threat to the EU’s security.
   
• Migrant smugglers are resourceful and agile. They flexibly allocate resources, change routes and adapt their modi operandi to respond to demand and external developments. The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine provided new opportunities for THB criminal networks to take advantage of vulnerable individuals seeking refuge in the EU. Smugglers quickly deployed resources to the region and launched large-scale online campaigns to advertise their services and recruit collaborators.
   
• Cooperation between criminal networks involved in migrant smuggling and THB is widespread across jurisdictions on the routes into the EU. Criminals cooperate, share resources and divide tasks, from handling recruitment in countries of origin, organising transport and accommodation, to orchestrating the exploitation of victims or facilitating the legalisation of stay in the EU.
   
• Although violence is intrinsic to the exploitation phase of THB and not an inherent feature of migrant smuggling, migrant smugglers are becoming visibly more violent, while human traffickers have shifted to deploy more manipulative tactics to recruit victims and maintain their compliance.
   
• Technology and the online environment are integral to the business models of criminal networks active in migrant smuggling and THB. Criminals rely on mainstream social media platforms to advertise their services and recruit facilitators, irregular migrants and THB victims. Instant messaging applications are often used as a second step, to exchange operational details in a safer environment.

For further information, please read the report attached above.