Albanian mafia or Albanian organized crime are in general terms used for various criminal organizations based in Albania or composed of ethnic Albanians. Outside Albania, it is common in the United States and the European Union. In this case, the term "mafia" does not imply that all Albanian criminal activity is coordinated and regulated by a common governing body headquartered in Albania, Kosovo, the Republic of Macedonia, etc.
Story
After the fall communist regime in Albania in early 1991, the Albanian mafia gained contact with the rest of the world, which led to its expansion on the international stage.
Connection with the Kosovo Liberation Army
In popular culture
- Albanian bandits are "present" in the Danish film Dealer 3.
- The film by Luc Besson, “Hostage” was released. Main character opposes Albanian mafia, who kidnapped his daughter in Paris for the purpose of selling her.
- The Albanian mafia is present in Grand Theft Auto IV.
- In the series Law and Order: Criminal Intent, the Albanian mafia kidnapped children and women.
- The mission in SOCOM 2 takes place in Albania, where you need to capture several criminal leaders.
- Actions of the French film "The Hornet's Nest" fr. Nid de guêpes revolves around an Albanian criminal leader.
- Based on the real-life backdrop of the Albanian mafia in Antwerp, Dossier K (2009) was directed by Jan Verheyen.
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Excerpt characterizing the Albanian mafia
Looking at him, Napoleon said, smiling:– II est venu bien jeune se frotter a nous. [He came to compete with us when he was young.]
“Youth doesn’t stop you from being brave,” Sukhtelen said in a breaking voice.
“Excellent answer,” said Napoleon. - Young man, you will go far!
Prince Andrei, who, to complete the trophy of the captives, was also put forward, in full view of the emperor, could not help but attract his attention. Napoleon apparently remembered that he had seen him on the field and, addressing him, used the same name young man- jeune homme, under which Bolkonsky was reflected in his memory for the first time.
– Et vous, jeune homme? Well, what about you, young man? - he turned to him, - how do you feel, mon brave?
Despite the fact that five minutes before this, Prince Andrei could say a few words to the soldiers carrying him, he now, directly fixing his eyes on Napoleon, was silent... All the interests that occupied Napoleon seemed so insignificant to him at that moment, so petty seemed to him his hero himself, with this petty vanity and joy of victory, in comparison with that high, fair and kind sky that he saw and understood - that he could not answer him.
And everything seemed so useless and insignificant in comparison with the strict and majestic structure of thought that was caused in him by the weakening of his strength from the bleeding, suffering and the imminent expectation of death. Looking into the eyes of Napoleon, Prince Andrei thought about the insignificance of greatness, about the insignificance of life, the meaning of which no one could understand, and about the even greater insignificance of death, the meaning of which no one living could understand and explain.
The emperor, without waiting for an answer, turned away and, driving away, turned to one of the commanders:
“Let them take care of these gentlemen and take them to my bivouac; let my doctor Larrey examine their wounds. Goodbye, Prince Repnin,” and he, moving his horse, galloped on.
There was a radiance of self-satisfaction and happiness on his face.
The soldiers who brought Prince Andrei and removed from him the golden icon they found, hung on his brother by Princess Marya, seeing the kindness with which the emperor treated the prisoners, hastened to return the icon.
Prince Andrei did not see who put it on again or how, but on his chest, above his uniform, suddenly there was an icon on a small gold chain.
“It would be good,” thought Prince Andrei, looking at this icon, which his sister hung on him with such feeling and reverence, “it would be good if everything were as clear and simple as it seems to Princess Marya. How nice it would be to know where to look for help in this life and what to expect after it, there, beyond the grave! How happy and calm I would be if I could now say: Lord, have mercy on me!... But to whom will I say this? Either the power is indefinite, incomprehensible, which I not only cannot address, but which I cannot express in words - the great all or nothing, - he said to himself, - or this is the God who is sewn up here, in this palm, Princess Marya? Nothing, nothing is true, except the insignificance of everything that is clear to me, and the greatness of something incomprehensible, but most important!
The stretcher started moving. With each push he again felt unbearable pain; the feverish state intensified, and he began to become delirious. Those dreams of his father, wife, sister and future son and the tenderness that he experienced on the night before the battle, the figure of the small, insignificant Napoleon and the high sky above all this, formed the main basis of his feverish ideas.
A quiet life and calm family happiness in Bald Mountains seemed to him. He was already enjoying this happiness when suddenly little Napoleon appeared with his indifferent, limited and happy look at the misfortune of others, and doubts and torment began, and only the sky promised peace. By morning, all the dreams mixed up and merged into the chaos and darkness of unconsciousness and oblivion, which, in the opinion of Larrey himself, Doctor Napoleon, were much more likely to be resolved by death than by recovery.
“It seemed that even Heaven had turned its back on the Greeks. When on the night of May 24, 1453, the icon of the Mother of God “Hodegetria” was placed on a stretcher and carried around the walls, the Moon eclipse, and then in complete darkness the icon fell to the ground. Everyone screamed and rushed to lift the shrine, but it seemed to be filled with lead and in no way succumbed to human strength. And in the morning, a mysterious glow was seen over the dome of Hagia Sophia, as if the Holy Spirit was leaving the temple and the city itself.”
This description of the storming and capture of Constantinople made one of the best French specialists in the fight against organized crime, a teacher at the department of criminology at the Paris Conservatory of Professions and Crafts, and an adviser to the head of French domestic intelligence, Xavier Raufer (official pseudonym), think about the future of his own country. real name- de Bongen).
He believes that, like the Byzantines in last years the existence of their kingdom, the French are inclined to deny the aggressive reality that is increasingly loudly declaring itself. The specialist refers to his experience working with Albanian mafia structures, the founding fathers of the Italian Camorra and Cosa Nostra.
Mr. Bongen told Pravda.Ru that the French authorities hire Chechens to maintain order in the Algerian and Moroccan neighborhoods of Nice. The French themselves continue to taste wine and talk about beauty. What is this - a feast during a plague or a doomed premonition of the end?
You have written books “Albanian Mafia”, “Cyber Crimes” and others about criminal Europe. How dangerous is Albanian crime for France?
For almost 30 years I have had a dacha in the south of Greece, all Albanians live around me, they - Good friends. The Albanian population is no more guilty of what the Albanian bankers do than the Sicilian population is of what the Sicilian mafia does. During the 2000s there arose serious problem with the Albanian mafia. A special danger lies in the fact that Albanians are historically a very clearly hierarchized, structured people.
Many officials in the Ottoman Empire were of Albanian origin. These are born managers; Unfortunately, this is now manifested in the criminal environment. When Yugoslavia began to disintegrate, we said that we were opening Pandora's box, but no one wanted to listen to us. Since the 2000s, Albanian mafiosi have spread throughout Europe.
Even when the Ottomans arrived in the Balkans, many Albanians, not wanting to convert to Islam, went to the south of Italy. They form a compact group in Calabria - several hundred thousand people. And perhaps their clan traditions made it possible to create the phenomenon of the South Italian mafia. The Albanian mafia has deep roots in Switzerland, and most of the money there is under its secret control.
In the 90s, Yugoslavia collapsed and disappeared in flames civil war independent countries emerged. Neighboring Albania in those years turned into a haven of all kinds of terrorism. I know of a case where the mayor of the city and the head of the mafia were one and the same person. Now the situation there has calmed down somewhat, but there is still enough dangerous people in the country and they still go to other countries.
Ninety-nine percent of Albanians living in Albania profess Sufism, which is focused on ecstasy, personal prayer and the creation of personal space. Other Muslims find them strange. They have a crucifix that hangs from one of the main symbols of God, it has a stream of gold pouring out of its mouth and so on. Of course, they also have fanatics, but their role is not very large. Many of younger generation non-religious people may even forget what religion their ancestors professed.
The American and other Western embassies are well aware that there are an insane number of Islamist extremists living in the Balkans, gathered from all over the world, who are converting moderate Muslims to their faith, but cannot do anything about it. There are also Orthodox Serbs there with a very harsh attitude.
- Where else do extremists come to Europe from?
Their main supplier is ISIS (an organization banned in Russia). Now it is faced with the fact that the borders are closed, because Turkey no longer allows ISIS infiltrators into Europe. Then ISIS began sending its fighters to Western Europe across the Mediterranean. ISIS members still present themselves as refugees. Having lost the possibility of passage through Turkey, they are now storming Europe from the south.
- Now France is inviting Chechens. Why, why?
Because the Chechens now control various discos in a number of southern cities of Provence, hot spots and maintain order there, managing to contain the population of Maghreb origin.
It turns out that the Chechens have now established their own law in Provence. But you talked about the danger of the Muslim mafia and terrorism in Western Europe...
There is no need to compare different situations. This is completely different. Chechens were invited to France so that they could take root in difficult neighborhoods where high level crime of immigrants from Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, a lot of hooliganism and crime. The Chechens who live in France behave normally, they understand that they can be extradited, but they absolutely do not want to be extradited.
They are often assigned to deal with security in private enterprises and private security companies. These guys are, as a rule, powerful, with good preparation, a stable psyche and a sense of teamwork. No crime stems from them. We have many problems of this kind with nomadic tribes, which create an unstable situation.
There are fights between the Caucasian peoples in the settlement areas of the south of France, sometimes with the Maghrebians, but they themselves know how to maintain order, everything very quickly comes to the right state. We transcribed various telephone conversations of the Albanian mafia and were shocked that these extremely violent guys were very afraid of the Chechens.
You coined the term “Byzantine syndrome,” which is now observed in France and almost all of Europe. What do you mean by this?
We must remember what happened in the last decades of existence Byzantine Empire. There was a certain desire to pupate within one’s own society, to assume the fetal position and deal only with one’s own problems. There were a lot of anathemas then - people were easily anathematized and excommunicated from the Church.
In the midst of these Christian persecutions, the clarification of relations among themselves, the Byzantines refused the help of the Serbs, because they did not fully accept all the integration codes of the Byzantine Orthodox Empire. As a result, the Serbs recoiled and ended up on the side of the Turks. There was no strict division by religion; Christians were on the side of the Muslim conquerors, and, on the contrary, it happened that Muslims were supporters of the Byzantines. Rather, there was more division by interests than by religion.
That’s why I call the Byzantine syndrome the desire to pupate, to deny the reality that is happening around us. According to legend, on the last day of Byzantium, the emperor talked with those close to him about the theological question regarding the gender of angels. They were interested in whether the angels were boys or girls. The sentries standing on the fortress wall went to the basileus and said that the Turks were already under the walls, and the emperor replied: do not you dare bother me with minor problems when I am deciding a serious issue.
Three days later, Byzantium was gone. The same is true now in Europe. A terrorist attack occurs in Sweden, and three days later all of Sweden is interested in a completely different problem - intergender relations. So we in the West, due to our inability to be interested in modernity and solve problems, very soon risk repeating the fate of the Byzantines. We don't know how to face danger.
Interviewed by Alexander Artamonov
Prepared for publication by Yuri Kondratyev
Albania is an Islamic country and, perhaps, the only one in Europe. You shouldn’t travel to Albania if you haven’t visited many other countries. You can feel the full flavor best if you first travel through classical European countries (France, Germany), and then through Muslim ones, then the difference will be more visible and obvious.
Tirana is not the same as a capital bright representative the eastern flavor of Albania, for this it is best to drive around the surrounding area, where you can see arches typical of Muslim states at the entrances to cities, children beggars, horses and carts as the main transport in villages, and junk cars with barkers used for intercity travel.
Nevertheless, oriental attributes are also present. For example, mosques, of which there are quite a lot in this small city.
Chaotic buildings, laundry that is dried on the street and satellite dishes.
There are no pedestrian zones, almost all the space is given over to cars.
Chaotic street vending literally everything - equipment, products, books.
You can bargain well at the market and get a very decent discount.
But what’s interesting is that here you can buy tobacco, by weight, and homemade wine. And these things, as we know, are prohibited by the Koran.
Therefore, it is worth noting that Albanians are practically not religious. Few people go to the mosque, Sharia laws are not observed, girls dress in European style. Perhaps the country's communist past played a big role in this.
Regardless of age.
Unmarried young girls communicate calmly with male peers.
And the guys calmly openly stare at the girls :)
By the way, men here really like to wear facial hair, and from a very young age.
Naturally, the identity of a “white” foreign guest always arouses great interest among the local population; if there is an English-speaking person, of whom there are very, very many in Albania, they will definitely want to talk to you and find out everything about you.
We talked a lot with these guys, and then crossed paths in the city many more times during the day. And when they found out that we came here by car, they were completely shocked.
The Albanians' favorite pastime is doing nothing. Regardless of the time of day or day of the week, you can meet a bunch of people on the streets of the city different ages people who walk, sit in a cafe, just chat and don’t work.
And even when they work, they try to do it as slowly as possible.
They say that jobs are very bad in Albania, so young people often flock to neighboring European countries, which are just a stone's throw away, where they try to find work until they are deported back.
It is worth noting that Albanians are very friendly and friendly people. We have only positive emotions from communicating with them.
“Soon all of Europe will have to learn Albanian,” these words were spoken by the current Prime Minister of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, when he was the leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army. Back then, hardly anyone took this call seriously. But in vain - the “prophecy” is beginning to come true. The first to become concerned about the lack of knowledge of the Albanian language were Interpol and FBI agents and police departments in European countries involved in the fight against organized crime.
Criminal groups consisting of ethnic Albanians are actively settling in Western Europe. In recent years, Albanian diasporas have increased significantly in Italy, Great Britain, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Poland, the Czech Republic and several other European countries. Many of these unwanted guests are from Kosovo. There are “brigades” whose members are Albanians who came from Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania itself.
The sphere of “business interests” of newcomers from the Balkans primarily focused on the clandestine supply of “live goods” for Italian brothels and, accordingly, making profits from such entertainment establishments. In addition, UCHK veterans energetically joined competition with Italian drug dealers. As a result, the main heroin flows into Italy are now directed by Albanian “regulators”.
Success in new territories was achieved largely due to the combat experience that the former “dogs of war” had. Many of them managed to fight not only in Kosovo, but also in other Balkan hot spots. The respectable Godfathers of the Cosa Nostra, burdened with equally respectable real estate and other material wealth, considered it best not to get involved with thugs who were accustomed to settling all disputes with the help of Kalashnikov assault rifles and grenade launchers.
One of the problems faced by detectives investigating the “adventures” of Kosovars and their compatriots from other Balkan countries is the special organization of Albanian crime clans.
This - blood relatives or people from the same village or locality. Like members of Italian "families", Albanian gangsters have their own vow of silence - the so-called "besa". This is the oath of allegiance that every full member of the clan takes to his comrades. There is only one punishment for violating it - death.
In 1997, the Interpol General Secretariat prepared a special report, which emphasized that criminal communities Kosovo Albanians have already taken control of 60 to 80% of heroin supplies to Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Sweden, and Norway.
Now they willingly marry and give their offspring to citizens of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as South Yemen and Sudan. Thanks to such an ingenious combination, an unbreakable “family” chain of drug producers, dealers and sellers is formed. They may not fear the introduction of police agents into their ranks, since all sensitive matters are resolved within the circle of relatives.
In fact, the entire region - Albania, Kosovo and Western Macedonia - is one large drug warehouse. It's about about tons of heroin, the profit from the sale of which is measured in billions of dollars. But just as there was, there is practically no information about the arrests of Albanian drug lords.
From the very beginning, the Albanian separatist movement in Yugoslavia was based on the activities of drug-mafia structures. However, until the early 1980s, the problem of Albanian drug smuggling from the Middle East through the Balkans to Europe and the United States arose only sporadically. Then the Albanians were just couriers, mercenaries of the Turkish drug mafia and Bulgarian criminal structures. With the growth of Albanian separatism, independent ethnic mafia groups began to take shape, included in the implementation of the “Greater Albania” project.
In addition, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Organized Crime, Albanian crime bosses have intensified cooperation with the Colombian drug mafia and established new cooperation schemes in transporting cocaine and heroin from South America to Europe. In the mountainous regions of Kosovo, laboratories allegedly already operate where drugs are packaged.
The Albanian mafia is establishing ever wider contacts with the Russian and Chinese mafias, preferring to temporarily agree on the distribution of zones of influence. As Interpol experts predict, within a few years the rapidly growing Albanian organized crime groups will be able to seriously compete with other ethnic mafia clans, which will inevitably lead to a struggle for the redistribution of spheres of influence in the international criminal business. So, apparently, Hashim Thaci was right - Europeans, especially law enforcement officers, will have to urgently take up the Albanian language textbook.
Students who surpass their teachers
Criminal groups consisting of ethnic Albanians are actively settling in Western Europe. In recent years, Albanian diasporas have increased significantly in Italy, Great Britain, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Poland, the Czech Republic and several other European countries. Many of these unwanted guests are from Kosovo. There are “brigades” whose members are Albanians who came from Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania itself.
Experts dealing with the problem of Albanian organized crime note that Albanian gangsters seriously declared themselves in the early 90s. Then their main specialization was providing forceful cover for groups of Turkish and Kurdish drug traffickers involved in the supply of heroin from Turkey to Europe. Gradually, the Albanian tough guys were no longer satisfied with the role of mercenaries, and they took control of drug trafficking on the so-called “Balkan route”. During the war in Kosovo, part of the funds received from drug sales went to purchase weapons for the UCHK - then the underground Kosovo Liberation Army.
Having finished fighting in Kosovo, many UCHK militants rushed to Italy and successfully established themselves there. Today, the most powerful criminal group, consisting of ethnic Albanians, operates in Milan. Albanian crime families created a lot of problems not only for the local police, but also brought great chaos to the affairs of the Italian mafia. It turned out that the old-fashioned mafiosi were not able to withstand the stormy onslaught of former UCH militants.
The sphere of “business interests” of newcomers from the Balkans primarily focused on the clandestine supply of “live goods” for Italian brothels and, accordingly, making profits from such entertainment establishments. In addition, UCH veterans energetically entered into a competitive struggle with Italian drug dealers. As a result, the main heroin flows into Italy are now directed by Albanian “regulators”.
Success in new territories was achieved largely due to the combat experience that the former “dogs of war” had. Many of them managed to fight not only in Kosovo, but also in other Balkan hot spots. Solid" godfathers“The Cosa Nostra, burdened with equally substantial real estate and other material wealth, considered it best not to get involved with thugs, who were accustomed to resolving all disputes with the help of Kalashnikov assault rifles and grenade launchers.
Balkan way
to Foggy Albion
Following the Italian mafiosi, the British ones felt the emergence of a new player on the criminal scene: their usual industries were also passing into the hands of the Albanians. Albanian criminal groups have already “registered” in London, Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and others major cities Kingdoms where they have become a headache for the police.
According to Scotland Yard, prostitution in England today is 75% under the control of Albanian “brigades”. Balkan guests not only receive large profits from the sex industry establishments “accountable” to them, but, just like in Italy, they supply brothels with “live goods” from of Eastern Europe: Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria, Ukraine and even Russia.
Most candidates, agreeing to work in bars or massage rooms, they know perfectly well what they will actually do. But they do not suspect under what cruel oppression they will find themselves. Behind many of the companies that promise girls easy money are the ruthless Albanian “brothers”. The freedom for such a “waitress” or “masseuse” ends from the moment the passport is transferred to the new owner. Detectives working in the anti-kidnapping and anti-smuggling squads talk about new form slavery, which is imposed by Balkan bandits.
However, Albanian gangsters who landed in Great Britain receive impressive income not only from the sale of prostitutes. According to Scotland Yard, more than 60% of heroin sold on English soil passes through the hands of Albanian drug dealers. Albanian “brigades” also have their share in the underground arms trade, which they manage to smuggle across European borders without any problems.
Settled on the shores Foggy Albion"seriously and for a long time", the Albanian "brothers" are actively trying their hand at other areas of criminal activity. Cases of extortion, kidnapping, grand theft and fraud have already been opened, with residents of Kosovo and Albania named as defendants. Last year, British detectives managed to prevent the kidnapping of Victoria Beckham, the wife of a famous football player. As it turned out, members of one of the Albanian “brigades” were planning to disturb the family of the most popular forward.
In the grip of the "demon"
One of the problems faced by detectives investigating the “adventures” of Kosovars and their compatriots from other Balkan countries is the special organization of Albanian crime clans. As a rule, these are blood relatives or people from the same village (area). Like members of Italian "families", Albanian gangsters have their own vow of silence - the so-called "besa". This is the oath of allegiance that every full member of the clan takes to his comrades. There is only one punishment for violating it - death. The leader of the clan is respected by everyone and demands unconditional obedience to the “crew”. Important questions may be submitted to the council - "bayrak", but the final decision still remains with the "crew".
The laws of “honor” that guide members of Albanian gangs are largely based on the “Kanun”, which is well known to every Albanian - a formal set of rules of life and behavior compiled in the 15th century, during the era of a fierce war with Ottoman Turkey by the Albanian prince Leke Dukagjini. As it turns out, patriarchal customs are in demand not only in village communities.
Another purely technical difficulty that detectives face is the Albanian language. Police officers in Europe have to go to great lengths to find reliable translators, not to mention wiretapping telephone conversations. In Germany, for example, police officers are already learning to pronounce the most necessary expressions in Albanian: “Hands up!” and “Stop! I’ll shoot!”
Albanian gangsters managed to prove themselves overseas. US law enforcement agencies agree with their European colleagues in assessing Albanian organized crime. According to police analysts, Albanian organized crime is currently on the rise. And if the pace of its development continues, then tomorrow the Cosa Nostra and the triads will seem like gangs of clueless hooligans in comparison with the network of well-organized Albanian clans that has entangled Europe.