Italian media outlet Notizie has reported that the Italians and Dutch police have dismantles an international drug trafficking network, furnished with drugs from Albania. The police seized about 1 ton of drugs and arrested 14 persons on the account of international drug trafficking.
According to the police, Albania was the country of origin of the drugs, which the criminal network transported to the Netherlands and Italy, where it was made ready for distribution. The profits of this network were reinvested in a prostitution network.
Notizie reports that Albania has become the main corridor for the trafficking of arms, people, stolen cars, prostitution, and organs. The whereabouts of the profits made with these illegal activities is often unknown, although the building boom in Albania – which continues in spite of a declining population – gives some indications of where the money may end up.
The trafficking from Albania followed two routes, one leading from Albania directly to the Netherlands and then to Italy, and the other from Albania to Italy and from there to other countries.
Although there is still little known about the composition of the newly emerging Albanian mafia clans, riding the wave of drug cultivation made possible since the appearance of Rama’s government in 2013, they are known to be linked through marriage with the Sacra Corona Unità, the most powerful mafia family in Puglia, across from Albania.
