The Director of Europol says the European Parliament's new anti-Mafia committee will focus political attention on a growing issue.

Europol welcomes anti-mafia committee

There are more than 7000 drugs-related  deaths in the EU each year

This drug-making equipment  was seized from illicit labs.

Like other crimes, drugs generate millions  for criminal gangs worldwide.

The most serious aspect today  is the globalisation of the mafia.

Once we believed the mafia  was an Italian problem,

But, recently, we've found  there are many mafias in Europe.

There are new mafias, the Albanian,  Bulgarian, Kosovan, Russian,

Chinese, Romanian, Lithuanian,  Colombian, Mexican mafias etc.

Rosario Crocetta, a longtime anti-mafia  campaigner, needs 24-hour protection.

At Europol's headquarters  in The Hague,

experts analyse crimes  such as credit card fraud,

often carried out by jobless youngsters  from poor countries

on behalf of anonymous gang bosses  safe at home.

At certain moments  they need to communicate -

where to start, where to send the money -

and if you follow the traces -  the calls or the SMSs -

you might end up finding  the people in charge.

Another organised crime activity: these  goods, held at Europol, are all counterfeit.

But intelligence-led operations  can curb criminality,

Only last December we helped dismantle  a very significant organised crime group

operating from Georgia  in many, many European countries.

In the end, centring on  an operation in France,

we helped arrest 23 people,  who had carried out a thousand offences.

The new EP committee will have a year  to assess the impact of organised crime

and propose solutions,  mainly by seizing the proceeds

and trying to make sure crime doesn't pay.