FLASH
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Recent developments in Mexico, following reports of the killing of the drug lord known as "El Mencho", are expected to have consequences for the international narcotics market, including Europe and the Balkan region. This was stated by journalist Artan Hoxha in an interview for the "Dita Jonë" show on A2 CNN.
According to him, Albanian drug trafficking networks have long become an important factor in cocaine trafficking from Latin America to European Union countries. Hoxha stressed that this phenomenon now constitutes a real concern, especially for European countries, where the presence of these groups has become more visible.
He underlined that, in this context, Albania must build a clear strategy in cooperation with the United States of America and European partners to confront organized crime.
Making a comparison with the situation in Mexico, where cartels directly confront the state and have heavy weaponry, Hoxha assessed that such genuine military structures do not exist in the Balkans.
According to him, Albanian criminal groups do not openly challenge state institutions, but operate in more fragmented forms, often through small groups or execution squads that are used mainly for clashes between rivals and not for direct confrontations with law enforcement agencies.
"In Albania we will have a genuine strategy taking into account the cooperation with the United States of America and with European partners, and now Albanian organized crime and Albanian drug traffickers are a real problem. Especially for Europe, they are a very visible problem, massively spread and have long since received the exclusivity to carry out cocaine trafficking from Latin America to European Union countries," said Hoxha.
Unlike Mexico, where cartels openly confront the state and possess heavy weaponry, in the Balkans, says journalist Hoxha, there are no such military structures that directly challenge institutions. He underlines that Albanian groups do not openly confront the state, but operate in a fragmented manner, often through small groups or execution squads.
"In the Balkans, we have at most criminal organizations that do not openly confront the state. In Albania, these organizations are even younger and do not have such large structures. So we do not yet have a real cartel, because we have a very big problem. Our organizations do not agree on who will lead. So we do not manage to make such a large alliance that would create this problem. Therefore, cartels are very dangerous for the country where they operate, because they become direct rivals of the state, of the law, there they become rulers of the territory and this gives them the opportunity and ability to become a parallel state, that is, a state within the state. From the structures that we have seen so far, at most we have had an execution squad, a group of hired killers, mainly to hit their opponents and not to confront law enforcement agencies. In Mexico, prosecutors, high-level officials, politicians, journalists are constantly being killed," Hoxha emphasized.
According to Hoxha, Europe remains one of the most profitable markets for cocaine and any destabilization in Mexico affects the supply chain that starts in Latin America and ends in EU countries. He emphasizes that when large structures are hit, criminal networks reorganize, changing trafficking routes and partners in Europe.
"There are no such large cartels in Europe. The mafia organizations that operate in Europe have an older history, have a completely different organization and structure, and mainly they try to corrupt law enforcement agencies from time to time, to make alliances with them, to avoid a clash like what happens in Mexico," he said.
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