TIRANA TIMES
TIRANA, June 28 – The UN Office on Drugs and Crime issued last week the World Drug Report 2010 where Albania was mentioned as a main heroin route. The report said that another notable feature of the Balkan route is that some important networks have clan-based and hierarchically organized structures.
Albanian groups in particular have such structures, making them particularly hard to infiltrate. This partially explains their continued involvement in several European heroin markets. Albanian networks continue to be particularly visible in Greece, Italy and Switzerland.
Italy is one of the most important heroin markets in Europe, and frequently identified as a base of operation for Balkan groups who exploit the local diaspora. According to WCO seizure statistics, Albanians made up the single largest group (32 percent) of all arrestees for heroin trafficking in Italy between 2000 and 2008.
Albania remains a drug route which comes from Asia, Afghanistan and passing through the Balkans toward Western Europe.
