FLASH
Shkruar nga Ruggero Scaturro
In Albania, the land is fertile. Promises of European integration have given way to frustration. Youth unemployment remains high, emigration is constant, corruption is widespread. In this void, criminal organizations offer something that the state does not guarantee: income, protection, identity…
In January 2025, a major anti-drug operation dismantled a large Italian-Albanian criminal network active in the international trafficking of cocaine from South America to Europe. The investigation, launched in 2020 and coordinated by the Brescia Public Prosecutor's Office with the support of Eurojust and Albanian authorities, led to the arrest of 12 people and the involvement of 40 suspects, both Italian and Albanian.
The drugs were transported by ship to Northern Europe and then entered Italy via articulated trucks, with final destinations in the provinces of Brescia, Milan, Novara and Verona. The leaders of the organization, two Albanian brothers, managed the operations from South America and Dubai, coordinating a sophisticated logistical system that included the use of bus drivers on the Brescia-Elbasan route to transfer the illicit proceeds. A few months ago, an operation coordinated by Europol led to the arrest of over 60 members of a powerful Albanian criminal network, active in at least ten European countries.
For years, Albania has occupied a central position on the routes of drug trafficking, smuggling and money laundering. Albanian clans have established themselves with an effective and flexible operational style, often faster than that of the traditional mafia. They speak several languages, move easily between Tirana, Brussels and Antwerp and form functional alliances with the 'Ndrangheta, the Camorra and, increasingly, with South American cartels or Nigerian networks.
In many Italian investigations, the “Albanian partner” appears as a key figure: reliable, discreet, rooted in the territory, but with a European reach. It is not just about logistics or manpower: Albanian groups participate in the direct management of trafficking, investing, recycling, making decisions. They are not followers, they are players.
However, talking only about their operational dimension risks being reductive. Mafias do not arise from nothing: they feed on inequality, mistrust, opportunism.
In Albania, the land is fertile. Promises of European integration have given way to frustration. Youth unemployment remains high, emigration is constant, corruption is widespread. In this void, criminal organizations offer something that the state does not guarantee: income, protection, identity.
And it is precisely in this space that civil society can make a difference. For years, the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) has been working around the world with a focused approach to social prevention. Through the Resilience Fund, the organization supports local NGOs, youth centers, activists and teachers who are trying to build real alternatives in the territories most exposed to criminal recruitment.
In Albania, a concrete example is the Vlora Youth Center, which involves boys and girls in cultural, educational, and active citizenship activities. In a context where the mafia offers fast and tempting models of life, creating spaces for participation and trust is a political act. However, these organizations often operate alone, with limited funding and little institutional attention.
It is no longer enough to talk in general terms about prevention. A structural, long-term and recognized commitment is needed. Security cannot be based solely on repression and control: it must also be based on education, participation and social justice. Policies of contrast must dialogue with those of inclusion.
Albania, today, is a mirror of European contradictions. On the one hand, it exports organized crime on a continental scale, on the other, it imports repressive models that ignore the root causes of the phenomenon. Italy, which shares an increasingly integrated political and criminal space with Albania, cannot look elsewhere.
The fight against the Albanian mafia, or any other transnational network, requires a paradigm shift: not only the police and criminal justice, but also the community, social cohesion, civil society. Without these components, any strategy will be partial. And we will continue, as is often the case, to arrive late. /Adapted from Pamphlet by Domani/
Lini një Përgjigje