TIRANA, July 7 – Police from seven regional countries have arrested 30 people and seized large quantities of drugs in a coordinated operation against an international smuggling ring financed by Albanian businessmen. The codenamed “Balkans” operation was carried out with authorities of Albania, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Kosovo in collaboration with U.S. agency DEA. Fifteen people were arrested in Albania for being part of one of the biggest drug smuggling rings which had 53 members including three Albanian businessmen in the construction sector identified as Jurgen Molla, Shyqyri Kotorri and Anesti Koromani. Prosecution sources told Tirana Times that the three businessmen financed the drug network from Turkey to Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania and Greece as final destination. Some 23 other criminals are still on the run. Police seized large quantities of drugs, cash, mobile phones, bank cards, vehicles and ammunition most of it in Albania.
Local prosecutors said that the investigation on the smuggling ring began in 2015. It took police from the abovementioned countries 15 months to finalize the operation, believed to be one of the most successful in the fight against drug traffic. The investigations revealed that the criminal organization was expanded in many countries of the region smuggling mostly heroin, cocaine and marijuana. Turkish members of the ring supplied traffickers in Kosovo with the drugs who afterwards with the collaboration of the Albanian businessmen managed to traffic the drugs in Greece and in other EU countries.
The Balkans region is a notorious route for smugglers of weapons and drugs to Western Europe. Although Balkan countries are one of the main transit routes for heroin, the quantity of drugs seized in Southeast Europe is considered to be quite low. According to a UN report Balkan countries are less successful in seizing transit drugs for reasons including corruption, lack of regional cooperation, and “clan-based and hierarchically organized structures.”
In a 2016 report published by the U.S. State Department, Albania is considered a major source country for production of marijuana and a transit point for shipments of cocaine and heroin destined to European markets.
