Albania still in the drug trafficking map, Department of State says

TIRANA, March 3 – The U.S. Department of State released the 2008 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report last week, which is an annual report that describes the efforts of key countries to attack all aspects of combating the international drug trade during 2007.
Albania was again cited as “an important regional financial or offshore center. As a transit country for trafficking in narcotics, arms, contraband, and humans, Albania remains at significant risk for money laundering.”
The report called Albania a transit country for narcotics traffickers who primarily smuggle heroin from Central Asia to destinations around Western Europe. In 2007, seizures of heroin declined slightly, while seizures of other drugs remained high, the report said. Cannabis continues to be produced in Albania for markets in Europe, but cultivation has largely moved into the more remote mountain regions of Albania that the government has difficulty patrolling. The Government of Albania, in response to international pressure and with international assistance, is confronting criminal elements more aggressively but continues to be hampered by a lack of resources and endemic corruption.
The major sources of criminal revenues in the country are trafficking offenses, official corruption and fraud. Corruption and organized crime are likely the most significant sources of money laundering, but the exact extent to which these various illegal activities contribute to overall crime proceeds and money laundering is unknown.
Criminals frequently invest tainted money in real estate and business development projects. Albania has a significant black market for smuggled goods because of its high level of consumer imports and weak customs controls. Organized crime groups use Albania as a base of operations for conducting criminal activities in other countries and often return their illicit gains to Albania. The proceeds from these activities are easily laundered in Albania because of the cash economy and weak government controls on banking.
As a cash-based economy, the Albanian economy is also particularly vulnerable to money laundering activity. Few individuals have bank accounts and check writing is not common.
The report went on to recommend Albania increase support and training for the FIU, as a majority of its staff is new and lacks experience in the analysis of money laundering and terrorist financing cases. The FIU should create or obtain a database to allow effective analysis of the large volume of currency transaction reports and suspicious transaction reports received. Albania should ensure that those charged with pursuing financial crime increase their technical knowledge to include modern financial investigation techniques. The U.S. report further suggested that Albania should provide its police force with a central database. Investigators and prosecutors should implement case management techniques, and prosecutors and judges need to become more familiar with the nuances of money laundering. The FIU, prosecutors and ECCJIU should enhance their effectiveness through cooperation with one another and outreach to other departments. Albania should remove the legal requirement of a conviction for serious crimes before a conviction for money laundering can be obtained. Albania should devise implementing regulations for Law 9258 regarding sequestration and confiscation of assets linked to the financing of terrorism so that it can be fully effective. The Government of Albania should also improve the enforcement and enlarge the scope of its asset seizure and forfeiture regime, including fully funding and supporting the Agency for the Administration of the Sequestration and Confiscation of Assets (AASCA). Albania should also incorporate into anti-money laundering legislation specific provisions regarding negligent money laundering, corporate criminal liability, comprehensive customer identification procedures, and the adequate oversight of money remitters and charities. Albania should enact its draft law and promulgate implementing regulations as soon as possible.