Albanian gangs forming drug alliance with South American mafia

[Crvena zvezda]

Albanian gangs forming drug alliance with South American mafia

The 2007 World Drug Report issued by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes is pointing to an alarming new drug alliance between the notorious South American drug lords and the Albanian drug mafia in the Balkans that already controls much of the wholesale network in Europe.
Under section Concerns about cocaine along the Balkan route (p 83):
“While most cocaine shipments from South America continue to be directed towards western Europe… some shipments to East Europe and the Balkan countries have been noticed by enforcement agencies.”
While the 2005 UN Drug report identifies Kosovo Albanian organized crime groups responsible for controlling heroin market, this new report, additionally, identifies them as developers of the new traffic routs through which they augment their heroin trade with South American cocaine:
“This raises concerns about the development of new trafficking routes and/or the incorporation of cocaine into the range of products offered by traditional heroin trafficking groups operating along the Balkan route,” says the report then adds that Albanian drug gangs control ports in Romania, in addition to ones in Montenegro (Bar) and Albania (Durres).
“Some cases of cocaine shipments via the Black Sea to Romania and via the Adriatic Sea to Montenegro often organized by Albanian criminal groups, have already been observed,” says the report.
Why Romania?
Well, the report includes a telling spreadsheet of wholesale prices Albanian drug gangs charge.
Prices in Albania and FRY Macedonia - all areas of substantial ethnic Albanian presence - are nearly identical, at $22 and $22.5 per gram of heroin, about a 25% markup from their Turkish suppliers.
However, the most expensive price in the region is in Romania, $50.3 per gram of heroin, about a 180% markup! This huge price markup on wholesale drug prices in Romania is the reason why Albanian organized crime is controlling Romanian ports.
Moreover, as Romanian economy expands, the drug of choice for the upwardly mobile consumers shifts to cocaine so we see Albanian drug gangs augmenting their heroin presence with South American cocaine that is otherwise unavailable from their Afghan and Turkish suppliers.
Independent Kosovo will be an additional sanctuary for these Albanian gangs.