The European Union’s law enforcement agency Europol has officially launched the European Centre Against Migrant Smuggling (ECAMS). The new centre is designed to strengthen the fight against organised criminal networks engaged in human smuggling.
The centre was established as part of the implementation of the new EU Pact on Migration and Asylum and serves as the successor to the European Migrant Smuggling Centre, which operated since 2016. The launch took place at a press conference at Europol’s headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands.
According to Europol’s Executive Director Catherine De Bolle, smugglers treat people as commodities and put the lives of hundreds of thousands of migrants at risk every year. The new centre aims to shift from investigating individual cases to systematically dismantling the entire business model of criminal networks.
Key objectives of ECAMS:
Collecting and analysing data from EU countries and partners to map criminal networks;
Identifying key figures and priority targets;
Conducting data-driven investigations, utilising open-source intelligence (OSINT) and financial investigations to trace illegal proceeds;
Strengthening international cooperation, including with Frontex;
Countering online recruitment and the digital methods used by smugglers.
The new centre will operate according to four core principles: a data-driven approach, proximity to operational investigations, international cooperation, and direct disruption of criminal networks. ECAMS will provide operational, technical, and forensic support to EU member states in order to dismantle the most dangerous smuggling networks.
The launch of ECAMS forms part of the EU’s broader strategy to intensify the fight against organised crime in the field of migration, which is becoming increasingly digital, adaptable, and violent.