Cross-border criminals earn €710bn a year

Turnover of cross-border organised crime is about €710bn a year — more than six times the total of official development aid — and stopping this “threat to peace” is one of the greatest global challenges, a UN agency has said.

The most lucrative businesses for criminals are drug trafficking and counterfeiting, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime said, launching an awareness- raising campaign about the size and cost of cross-border criminal networks.

“Millions of victims are affected each year as a result of the activities of organised crime groups, with human trafficking victims alone numbering 2.4m at any one time,” the agency said in a statement.