Swiss court jails 2 Kosova Albanians for drug smuggling

BELLINZONA, Switzerland, Nov 3 – Two ethnic Albanian brothers from Kosova were convicted in Switzerland last week for running a massive drug smuggling ring that prosecutors said supplied Western Europe with up to half of its heroin.
Rakip and Qemal Shabani channeled 1.5 tons of heroin through Europe from the mid-1990s until 2003 when they were shut down, prosecutors said.
Besides a small town in Kosova, they had branches in Macedonia, Albania, Spain and the Czech Republic, according to the Federal Criminal Court.
The trial was considered one of Switzerland’s largest-ever drug cases.
Judge Jean-Luc Bacher sentenced Rakip Shabani to 15 years in prison for breaking Swiss narcotics laws and ordered the 42-year-old to pay 300,000 francs in court costs.
Qemal Shabani, 28, was handed a two-year suspended sentence for participating in a criminal organization and was fined 90,000 francs in court costs.
Also, the Shabanis’ assets were confiscated. They have vowed to appeal the verdict.
Police across Europe confiscated 970 kilograms of heroin during raids carried out from 1997 to 2003 in Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Slovenia, Switzerland and Kosova.