Citizens’ Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis has been given the green light by Prime Minister George Papandreou to set up a crack police squad that will tackle organized crime, sources told Sunday’s Kathimerini.

Chrysochoidis has identified organized crime as one of the main problems that needs to be tackled. In a bid to so, he has put forward plans to create a team that would consist of top experts, including those with extensive knowledge of finance, to track down gangs that make money from a series of offenses.

“Evidence indicates that organized crime is spreading around the country at a dangerous rate,” Chrysochoidis told Kathimerini. “Money is being laundered very quickly and all this is also linked to [domestic] terrorism.”

Under the minister’s scheme, the new squad would comprise high-ranking police officers and financial and information technology experts who would be working closely with experienced prosecutors who, in turn, would clear the team’s access to sensitive public and private data, including tax statements and bank accounts.

The squad would investigate all kinds of organized crime, including fraud, bribery and blackmail.

In its 2009 report, Europol, the European Union’s criminal intelligence agency, has warned that the global economic crisis means that international organized gangs could be looking to make money from usury in Greece.

Europol also sees Greece as a “crossroad” for international gangs involved in the smuggling of immigrants, drugs and women for sexual exploitation.

The agency also warns that if Greece does not take action soon to stem the tide of this criminal activity, it will soon be overwhelmed by it.

Chrysochoidis envisages the new force working more closely with Europol as well as the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) in an effort to trace international gangs that are currently active in the country.