Agri-food crime has emerged as a structurally embedded component of contemporary global markets, exploiting the vulnerabilities generated by complex supply chains, regulatory fragmentation and cross-border economic integration. Criminal activities in the agri-food sector do not operate at the margins of lawful economies but intersect with them, adapting to market dynamics and leveraging systemic weaknesses across production, logistics and distribution. Within the European Union, this phenomenon is exacerbated by a persistent regulatory paradox: while the food safety framework has been extensively harmonised since Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, the punitive dimension remains largely uncoordinated. The absence of a shared definition of agri-food crime, combined with divergent national classifications and enforcement models, generates enforcement vacuums and significant opportunities for organised criminal groups, which strategically exploit regulatory asymmetries and uneven levels of control. This paper analyses the transnational nature of agri-food crime—documented in particular by Europol–Interpol’s OPSON operations—and the structural limitations of the current EU regulatory architecture. It argues that EU action, although highly developed on the preventive and administrative fronts, lacks a coherent system of sanctions capable of targeting both economic and organised manifestations of food crime.