by M. Bozinovich
The 2007 World Drug Report issued by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes is pointing to an alarming new drug alliance between the notorious South American drug lords and the Albanian drug mafia in the Balkans that already controls much of the wholesale network in Europe.
Under section Concerns about cocaine along the Balkan route (p 83):
“While most cocaine shipments from South America continue to be directed towards western Europe… some shipments to East Europe and the Balkan countries have been noticed by enforcement agencies.”
While the 2005 UN Drug report identifies Kosovo Albanian organized crime groups responsible for controlling heroin market, this new report, additionally, identifies them as developers of the new traffic routs through which they augment their heroin trade with South American cocaine:
“This raises concerns about the development of new trafficking routes and/or the incorporation of cocaine into the range of products offered by traditional heroin trafficking groups operating along the Balkan route,” says the report then adds that Albanian drug gangs control ports in Romania, in addition to ones in Montenegro (Bar) and Albania (Durres).
“Some cases of cocaine shipments via the Black Sea to Romania and via the Adriatic Sea to Montenegro often organized by Albanian criminal groups, have already been observed,” says the report.Why Romania?
Well, the report includes a telling spreadsheet of wholesale prices Albanian drug gangs charge.
http://serbianna.com/blogs/bozinovich/?p=86