Albanian mafia today plays a significant role in the global criminal arena. We dare to compare it with the Russian mafia. After all, precisely parallel to the process of the emergence of Russian criminal groups, the same process was going on in Albania. The Albanian mafia is the same age as the Russian mafia. The first appeared in Albania in the early 1980s. They were doing exactly the same thing that their colleagues in Russia were doing.
From the very beginning, Albanian organized crime groups built their business on kidnappings, racketeering, and control of prostitution. They were also involved in smuggling in the most profitable areas of business - tobacco and alcohol. At the same time, Albanian groups exercised control over car thefts. But all this did not provide the same income as drug trafficking. It was the Albanians who organized the transit of heroin through the Balkans to North America in 1981. By 1985, 35% of heroin entering North America came through the Balkan route.
Albanian mafia on the international scene
With the fall of the communist regime in 1991, the Albanian mafia began to try its hand in the international arena to the fullest. And the war in Kosovo contributed to finally gaining a foothold in Europe. Then, along with refugees, criminal elements also entered European countries. The Albanian mafia is firmly established in Germany and Switzerland. Moreover, their groups were built on the principle of fraternity, as well as family ties.
Prince Dobrosi is one of the largest drug dealers of the Albanian mafia
The Albanian mafia has its own vow of silence called “besa,” when an active participant swears not to talk about members of the organized crime group and their crimes. Otherwise, death awaited him. The same practice exists in .
Each Albanian organized crime group has its own leader, something like a criminal authority. Only such a leader is called “krew”. It is he who decides all issues of his clan. Sometimes an organized crime group gathers for a council, in their name “bayrak”. But this happens very rarely.
In general, militants from Albanian organized crime groups were also hired by the Turks to guard their drug suppliers. Of course, we are talking about huge amounts of heroin guarded by Albanians.
Over time, it was the drug business that became the main specialization of the Albanian mafia. They organized many different drug transit routes. By the way, the Albanians have quite thoroughly established ties with, jointly supplying heroin and cocaine from South America to Europe. And in the mountains of Albania there are several large drug laboratories operating.
Albanian mafia is a powerful force
The Albanian mafia turned out to be much cooler than the modern Italian one. Right in Milan, Albanians have taken control of prostitution and entertainment venues. Cosa Nostra was unable to oppose them with practically anything. Albanian militants, for whom human life is not worth a penny, made it clear to Italian bosses living in mansions and accustomed to luxury that they would simply blow them up or shoot them.
Also, the Albanian brigades have quite successfully settled into London. Local security forces cannot bring Albanians to justice. The fact is that the most dedicated part of the brigade is related to each other. Mutual responsibility allows Albanians to evade justice in peace.
The Albanian mafia controls most of the prostitution in some European countries. To replenish the sex industry market, they kidnap girls in different countries. Albanians tried to organize the kidnapping of David Beckham's wife Victoria. But thanks to information leakage, the kidnapping was prevented.
The cheapest murder services are also provided by the Albanian mafia. Killing a person is not very difficult for militants.
In the USA, where almost the entire mafia international is represented, the Albanian mafia also has its own brigades. First of all, they chose New York, where they are gradually displacing the Italian and Greek mafia. The Albanians are assertive, bloodthirsty and ruthless, which allows them to hold their captured positions. Almost no one openly opposes themselves to them.
Only once, in 2004, the largest trial against the Albanian mafia took place. Then it was possible to bring Alex Rudai’s brigade of 22 people to justice. They were accused of a whole bunch of crimes, ranging from robbery and drug sales, to racketeering and contract killings.
The Albanian mafia has a lot of money, which they invest particularly in real estate. The sweet spot for them is part of Manhattan and the Bronx in the United States, where Albanians own many commercial spaces.
The Albanian mafia sponsors UN employees in Kosovo with its own money. The richest Albanian, Behdjet Pacolli, who restored the Kremlin by Yeltsin's decree, is also connected with the mafia. It is through the accounts of his companies that money is transferred to bribe officials and high-ranking employees. And the prime minister of the government, Hashima Thaci, himself comes from the mafia. It was he who controlled drug trafficking in the Yashari mafia family. Tachi is generally a unique person. Having been in the mafia and becoming a statesman, he was recruited by the CIA. With his help, the Americans wanted to establish their military base in the Balkans. This required the help of the mafia, which the military received. In return, the US Army bought several million dollars worth of weapons from Albanian organized crime groups.
Today we can safely say that the Albanian mafia is tied to representatives of the US armed forces. It was at the instigation of the Americans that the Albanians were able to organize large-scale thefts of weapons and ammunition from their warehouses. And then the sale of these weapons to the American military.
Now the Albanian mafia is spreading like an octopus across European countries. They have enough funds and strength to carry out their criminal activities. They are covered by truly influential politicians, despite the fact that the criminal money of Albanian organized crime groups is used to support separatism. They are a real threat to the world community. And it is difficult to fight them, since corrupt government officials do not allow this to be done, receiving huge amounts of money from the Albanian brigades.
Albanian mafia or Albanian organized crime are general terms used for various criminal organizations based in Albania or composed of ethnic Albanians. Outside Albania, it is common in the United States and the European Union. In this case, the term "mafia" does not imply that all Albanian criminal activity is coordinated and regulated by a common governing body headquartered in Albania, Kosovo, the Republic of Macedonia, etc.
Story
After the fall of the communist regime in Albania in early 1991, the Albanian mafia gained contact with the rest of the world, which led to its expansion on the international stage.
Connection with the Kosovo Liberation Army
In popular culture
- Albanian bandits are "present" in the Danish film Dealer 3.
- The film by Luc Besson, “Hostage” was released. The main character confronts the Albanian mafia, which kidnapped his daughter in Paris for the purpose of selling him.
- The Albanian mafia is present in Grand Theft Auto IV.
- In the series Law and Order: Criminal Intent, the Albanian mafia kidnapped children and women.
- The mission in SOCOM 2 takes place in Albania, where you need to capture several criminal leaders.
- Actions of the French film "The Hornet's Nest" fr. Nid de guêpes revolves around an Albanian criminal leader.
- Based on the real-life backdrop of the Albanian mafia in Antwerp, Dossier K (2009) was directed by Jan Verheyen.
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Excerpt characterizing the Albanian mafia
Looking at him, Napoleon said, smiling:– II est venu bien jeune se frotter a nous. [He came to compete with us when he was young.]
“Youth doesn’t stop you from being brave,” Sukhtelen said in a breaking voice.
“Excellent answer,” said Napoleon. - Young man, you will go far!
Prince Andrei, who, to complete the trophy of the captives, was also put forward, in full view of the emperor, could not help but attract his attention. Napoleon apparently remembered that he had seen him on the field and, addressing him, used the same name of the young man - jeune homme, under which Bolkonsky was reflected in his memory for the first time.
– Et vous, jeune homme? Well, what about you, young man? - he turned to him, - how do you feel, mon brave?
Despite the fact that five minutes before this, Prince Andrei could say a few words to the soldiers carrying him, he now, directly fixing his eyes on Napoleon, was silent... All the interests that occupied Napoleon seemed so insignificant to him at that moment, so petty seemed to him his hero himself, with this petty vanity and joy of victory, in comparison with that high, fair and kind sky that he saw and understood - that he could not answer him.
And everything seemed so useless and insignificant in comparison with the strict and majestic structure of thought that was caused in him by the weakening of his strength from the bleeding, suffering and the imminent expectation of death. Looking into the eyes of Napoleon, Prince Andrei thought about the insignificance of greatness, about the insignificance of life, the meaning of which no one could understand, and about the even greater insignificance of death, the meaning of which no one living could understand and explain.
The emperor, without waiting for an answer, turned away and, driving away, turned to one of the commanders:
“Let them take care of these gentlemen and take them to my bivouac; let my doctor Larrey examine their wounds. Goodbye, Prince Repnin,” and he, moving his horse, galloped on.
There was a radiance of self-satisfaction and happiness on his face.
The soldiers who brought Prince Andrei and removed from him the golden icon they found, hung on his brother by Princess Marya, seeing the kindness with which the emperor treated the prisoners, hastened to return the icon.
Prince Andrei did not see who put it on again or how, but on his chest, above his uniform, suddenly there was an icon on a small gold chain.
“It would be good,” thought Prince Andrei, looking at this icon, which his sister hung on him with such feeling and reverence, “it would be good if everything were as clear and simple as it seems to Princess Marya. How nice it would be to know where to look for help in this life and what to expect after it, there, beyond the grave! How happy and calm I would be if I could now say: Lord, have mercy on me!... But to whom will I say this? Either the power is indefinite, incomprehensible, which I not only cannot address, but which I cannot express in words - the great all or nothing, - he said to himself, - or this is the God who is sewn up here, in this palm, Princess Marya? Nothing, nothing is true, except the insignificance of everything that is clear to me, and the greatness of something incomprehensible, but most important!
The stretcher started moving. With each push he again felt unbearable pain; the feverish state intensified, and he began to become delirious. Those dreams of his father, wife, sister and future son and the tenderness that he experienced on the night before the battle, the figure of the small, insignificant Napoleon and the high sky above all this, formed the main basis of his feverish ideas.
A quiet life and calm family happiness in Bald Mountains seemed to him. He was already enjoying this happiness when suddenly little Napoleon appeared with his indifferent, limited and happy look at the misfortune of others, and doubts and torment began, and only the sky promised peace. By morning, all the dreams mixed up and merged into the chaos and darkness of unconsciousness and oblivion, which, in the opinion of Larrey himself, Doctor Napoleon, were much more likely to be resolved by death than by recovery.
Albania is an Islamic country and, perhaps, the only one in Europe. You shouldn’t travel to Albania if you haven’t visited many other countries. You can feel the full flavor best if you first travel through classical European countries (France, Germany), and then through Muslim ones, then the difference will be more visible and obvious.
Tirana as the capital is not such a bright representative of the eastern flavor of Albania, for this it is best to drive around the surrounding area, where you can see arches typical of Muslim states at the entrances to cities, children beggars, horses and carts as the main transport in villages and used for intercity travel car junk with barkers.
Nevertheless, oriental attributes are also present. For example, mosques, of which there are quite a lot in this small city.
Chaotic buildings, laundry that is dried on the street and satellite dishes.
There are no pedestrian zones, almost all the space is given over to cars.
Chaotic street trading of literally everything - equipment, food, books.
You can bargain well at the market and get a very decent discount.
But what’s interesting is that here you can buy tobacco, by weight, and homemade wine. And these things, as we know, are prohibited by the Koran.
Therefore, it is worth noting that Albanians are practically not religious. Few people go to the mosque, Sharia laws are not observed, girls dress in European style. Perhaps the country's communist past played a big role in this.
Regardless of age.
Unmarried young girls communicate calmly with male peers.
And the guys calmly openly stare at the girls :)
By the way, men here really like to wear facial hair, and from a very young age.
Naturally, the identity of a “white” foreign guest always arouses great interest among the local population; if there is an English-speaking person, of whom there are very, very many in Albania, they will definitely want to talk to you and find out everything about you.
We talked a lot with these guys, and then crossed paths in the city many more times during the day. And when they found out that we came here by car, they were completely shocked.
The Albanians' favorite pastime is doing nothing. Regardless of the time of day or day of the week, on the streets of the city you can meet a bunch of people of different ages walking, sitting in cafes, just chatting and not working.
And even when they work, they try to do it as slowly as possible.
They say that jobs are very bad in Albania, so young people often flock to neighboring European countries, which are just a stone's throw away, where they try to find work until they are deported back.
It is worth noting that Albanians are very friendly and friendly people. We have only positive emotions from communicating with them.
"238480"
Octopus: Albanian drug mafia strengthened ties with Italian 'Ndrangheta
Albania is the main drug crossroads in Europe
At the international conference “Parliamentarians against Drugs” held on December 4 last year, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that the merging of drug trafficking with terrorism, fueled by money from the drug trade, has become a reality of our days. In Europe, a special role in the drug business belongs to the Albanian mafia, which has recently strengthened ties with the Italian criminal group 'Ndrangheta ( ‘Ndrangheta ‘ ). Albania has become the main European crossroads for drug trafficking channels. And the octopus of drug trafficking involving Albanians and Italians has entangled the whole of Europe.
Colombian goods for Albanian drug traffickers
Influential German weekly Stern dedicated Albanian drug cartels one of their February issues. The Albanian drug mafia is considered the most powerful in Germany and earns hundreds of millions of euros. In particular, Stern told how in the city of Lörrach (Germany, Baden-Württemberg), German, French and Swiss police spent a whole year developing an Albanian criminal group involved in the transportation and trade of heroin. 24-hour wiretapping of mobile phones was carried out; the movements of several dozen people were monitored. 450 police officers took part in the seizure operation - the gang was arrested.
Despite this, within a month the heroin business was booming again. New “fighters” were sent from Albania; the clans have hundreds, if not thousands of people in their reserves, ready at any moment to carry out the orders of their bosses.
An important detail is that the Colombian and Albanian drug mafias work closely together. “Colombian goods” go from Colombia to Albania directly by sea. Paris Match calls Albania "the main drug crossroads in Europe" .
Photo: rts.rs
Recently, in the Albanian port of Durres, police officers wrote Paris Match, discovered 631 kilograms of Colombian cocaine worth 180 million euros. The cocaine was transported along with a large shipment of bananas. Details of the operation are not advertised. The “cocaine parcel” to Albania came from one of the most influential clans in Latin America Del Golfo, which has about 3,000 militants. The Dairo clan is led by Antonio Usuga, also known as Otoniel, the most wanted man in Colombia, with a $2 million price on his head.
In January, 2 tons of marijuana were found in the sea near the Albanian city of Vlora on an abandoned boat. Last year, Italian police managed to seize 33 tons of Albanian cannabis. Drugs are transported to Italy mainly by sea, and by land they are transported to Greece, to the border region of Epirus. There, according to Greek police, over 9 tons of marijuana were seized from Albanian drug clans last year.
Source: reportage.corriere.it
The most dangerous mafia clan in Albania is considered the Kula family, which controls drug smuggling from Turkey. The Brokai clan consists of former members of the Albanian secret service. Their main trump card is connections with security services, customs services, and influential politicians, who often have their share of the profitable drug business. There is intense competition between numerous Albanian mafia clans. So, recently in the city of Shkoder they tried to blow up the office of Lulzim Kula, six people were injured, two were seriously injured.
Several Albanian clans, including the Abazi clan and the Boritsi clan, successfully cooperate with their “colleagues” from the “Republic of Kosovo”. The drug business is divided by administrative districts and municipalities. The city of Pecs is considered the most profitable. The Elshani and Haliti clans rule here, whose business is connected with neighboring Montenegro. The Suma clan operates in the area of the city of Kacanika and partially controls Macedonia. The Sulja, Agushi, Getsi and Babalia clans took control of Pristina, Mitrovica and Djakovica.
'Ndrangheta
In the past few years, drug traffickers from Albania and Kosovo have established business ties with one of the most influential Italian mafia groups, the 'Ndrangheta, which originated at the end of the 19th century in Calabria, the poorest province in southern Italy.
According to various estimates, the 'Ndrangheta's annual revenues amount to up to 50 billion euros. They make money mainly from drug trafficking, extortion, gambling, racketeering, pimping, trafficking in weapons and nuclear materials, and illegal capital flows. There are also completely legal jobs - construction, restaurants, pizzerias, retail trade, markets. The 'Ndrangheta network makes a lot of money in the largest tourist centers in Europe, where millions of visitors from all over the world come. In Florence, Rome, Venice, Paris and other places of pilgrimage for tourists, drugs can be bought at any time of the day. Some of the restaurants in these centers have long been under the control of the 'Ndrangheta and the Sicilian Cosa Nostra.
Photo: trinixy.ru
Ndrageta has penetrated almost all countries of the European Union. In countries such as Holland and Switzerland, drug trafficking clans from Albania and Kosovo have created a wholesale market. Usually in Rotterdam, drug couriers pick up small quantities of “poison” and travel to neighboring countries with a few kilograms. The composition of drug couriers is constantly updated. They dump the party in the right place “on the street” and for the time being “lie to the bottom.” Most “street” clients have their own clientele, they are notified via SMS, a meeting place is assigned, payment is made in cash, and the drug, packaged in bags of 1 to 5 grams, goes to the addict. Some wholesalers and street traders are sometimes caught and sentenced to prison terms of 4 to 6 years, but more often they are given suspended sentences and fines of up to 100 thousand euros. With illegal turnover amounting to hundreds of millions of euros, such fines can be considered minor.
Photo: ntacalabria.it
The territory of Europe has long been divided by criminal structures into zones, where, as a rule, mafiosi from Albania and Kosovo are present. They know how to negotiate with the “right people” at airports and seaports, and at railway stations. French experts are confident that almost 90 percent of Balkan Albanians come under the control of the mafia created by their fellow tribesmen. They do not disdain anything: they make money from minor prostitutes, thefts of expensive and fashionable cars, from the arms trade, and they steal money from bank cards throughout Europe. Albanian crime clans have also reached Foggy Albion. Europeans still have little understanding that the Albanian mafia operates according to the rules Kanun(Turkish word meaning “law”, “code”), created in the 15th century, where the main ones are blood ties, silence, and blood feud.
“Drug proceeds undermine international security and stability, - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on December 4, 2017 at the “Parliamentarians against Drugs” conference. - In the face of these problems, we cannot agree with those who propose to surrender to the onslaught of international drug crime, throw out the white flag and open the gates to total drug liberalization. Such an approach is fraught with a catastrophe of unprecedented proportions.”
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“It seemed that even Heaven had turned away from the Greeks. When on the night of May 24, 1453, the icon of the Mother of God “Hodegetria” was placed on a stretcher and carried around the walls, a Lunar Eclipse occurred, and then in complete darkness the icon fell to the ground. Everyone screamed and rushed to lift the shrine, but "It was as if it was filled with lead and in no way succumbed to human strength. And in the morning, a mysterious glow was seen above the dome of Hagia Sophia, as if the Holy Spirit was leaving the temple and the city itself."
This description of the assault and capture of Constantinople made one of the best French specialists in the fight against organized crime, a teacher at the department of criminology at the Paris Conservatory of Professions and Crafts, and an adviser to the head of French domestic intelligence Xavier Raufer (official pseudonym; real name de Bongen) think about the future of his own country ).
He believes that, like the Byzantines in the last years of their kingdom, the French are inclined to deny the increasingly loud aggressive reality. The specialist refers to his experience working with Albanian mafia structures, the founding fathers of the Italian Camorra and Cosa Nostra.
Mr. Bongen told Pravda.Ru that the French authorities hire Chechens to maintain order in the Algerian and Moroccan neighborhoods of Nice. The French themselves continue to taste wine and talk about beauty. What is this - a feast during a plague or a doomed premonition of the end?
You have written books “Albanian Mafia”, “Cyber Crimes” and others about criminal Europe. How dangerous is Albanian crime for France?
For almost 30 years now I have had a dacha in the south of Greece, all Albanians live around me, they are good friends. The Albanian population is no more guilty of what the Albanian bankers do than the Sicilian population is of what the Sicilian mafia does. During the 2000s, a serious problem arose with the Albanian mafia. A special danger lies in the fact that Albanians are historically a very clearly hierarchized, structured people.
Many officials in the Ottoman Empire were of Albanian origin. These are born managers; Unfortunately, this is now manifested in the criminal environment. When Yugoslavia began to disintegrate, we said that we were opening Pandora's box, but no one wanted to listen to us. Since the 2000s, Albanian mafiosi have spread throughout Europe.
Even when the Ottomans arrived in the Balkans, many Albanians, not wanting to convert to Islam, went to the south of Italy. They form a compact group in Calabria - several hundred thousand people. And perhaps their clan traditions made it possible to create the phenomenon of the South Italian mafia. The Albanian mafia has deep roots in Switzerland, and most of the money there is under its secret control.
In the 90s, Yugoslavia collapsed and disappeared in the flames of civil war, independent countries emerged. Neighboring Albania in those years turned into a haven of all kinds of terrorism. I know of a case where the mayor of the city and the head of the mafia were one and the same person. Now the situation there has calmed down somewhat, but there are still enough dangerous people in the country, and they still go to other countries.
Ninety-nine percent of Albanians living in Albania profess Sufism, which is focused on ecstasy, personal prayer and the creation of personal space. Other Muslims find them strange. They have a crucifix that hangs from one of the main symbols of God, it has a stream of gold pouring out of its mouth and so on. Of course, they also have fanatics, but their role is not very large. Many of the younger generation are not religious people, perhaps even forget what religion their ancestors professed.
The American and other Western embassies are well aware that there are an insane number of Islamist extremists living in the Balkans, gathered from all over the world, who are converting moderate Muslims to their faith, but cannot do anything about it. There are also Orthodox Serbs there with a very harsh attitude.
- Where else do extremists come to Europe from?
Their main supplier is ISIS (an organization banned in Russia). Now it is faced with the fact that the borders are closed, because Turkey no longer allows ISIS infiltrators into Europe. Then ISIS began sending its fighters to Western Europe through the Mediterranean. ISIS members still present themselves as refugees. Having lost the possibility of passage through Turkey, they are now storming Europe from the south.
- Now France is inviting Chechens. Why, why?
Because the Chechens now control various discos and hot spots in a number of southern cities of Provence and maintain order there, managing to restrain the population of Maghreb origin.
It turns out that the Chechens have now established their own law in Provence. But you talked about the danger of the Muslim mafia and terrorism in Western Europe...
There is no need to compare different situations. This is completely different. Chechens were invited to France so that they could take root in difficult neighborhoods, where there is a high crime rate for people from Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia, and there is a lot of hooliganism and crime. The Chechens who live in France behave normally, they understand that they can be extradited, but they absolutely do not want to be extradited.
They are often assigned to deal with security in private enterprises and private security companies. These guys are, as a rule, powerful, with good preparation, a stable psyche and a sense of teamwork. No crime stems from them. We have many problems of this kind with nomadic tribes, which create an unstable situation.
There are fights between the Caucasian peoples in the settlement areas of the south of France, sometimes with the Maghrebians, but they themselves know how to maintain order, everything very quickly comes to the right state. We transcribed various telephone conversations of the Albanian mafia and were shocked that these extremely violent guys were very afraid of the Chechens.
You coined the term "Byzantine syndrome", which is now observed in France and almost all of Europe. What do you mean by this?
We must remember what happened in the last decades of the Byzantine Empire. There was a certain desire to pupate within one’s own society, to assume the fetal position and deal only with one’s own problems. There were a lot of anathemas then - people were easily anathematized and excommunicated from the Church.
In the midst of these Christian persecutions, the clarification of relations among themselves, the Byzantines refused the help of the Serbs, because they did not fully accept all the integration codes of the Byzantine Orthodox Empire. As a result, the Serbs recoiled and ended up on the side of the Turks. There was no strict division by religion; Christians were on the side of the Muslim conquerors, and, on the contrary, it happened that Muslims were supporters of the Byzantines. Rather, there was more division by interests than by religion.
That’s why I call the Byzantine syndrome the desire to pupate, to deny the reality that is happening around us. According to legend, on the last day of Byzantium, the emperor talked with those close to him about the theological question regarding the gender of angels. They were interested in whether the angels were boys or girls. The sentries standing on the fortress wall went to the basileus and said that the Turks were already under the walls, and the emperor replied: do not you dare bother me with minor problems when I am deciding a serious issue.
Three days later, Byzantium was gone. The same thing is happening in Europe now. A terrorist attack occurs in Sweden, and three days later all of Sweden is interested in a completely different problem - intergender relations. So we in the West, due to our inability to be interested in modernity and solve problems, very soon risk repeating the fate of the Byzantines. We don't know how to face danger.
Interviewed by Alexander Artamonov
Prepared for publication by Yuri Kondratyev