Chronicles Intelligence Assessment

Kosovo and the Albanian Drug TradebyMarkoLopusina

AsIwrite this at the end ofApril, the NATO bombing ofYugoslavia is in its fourth week. Albania—predictably—has

been turned into a NATO base, and the Kosovo LiberationArmy is openly recruiting volunteers in NATO countries, including the United States, where both U.S.-born Albanians andAlbanian resident aliens are allowed to join the ranks of anarmed movement that meets all tlie standards of a terrorist organization. In late 1998, the New Yor^ Times reported thatKosovo Albanians in America—with the approval of the U.S.State Department—were collecting money to purchase armsfor the terrorists. {This activity is not banned by federal law aslong as the State Department does not list the kLa as aterroristorganization.) The Albanians coordinating the fundraising acknowledged that they had collected the fantastic sum of$100million from Kosovo Albanians in NewYork, Detroit,Chicago,and Boston. The transportation ofarms to Albania was also coordinated from the United States.

TheState Department's decision not to include the KLA onits list oftenorist organizations makes amockery ofinternational justice. While the Clinton administration knows that theKL\is receiving arms from Iran, has ties to Osama bin Laden,and is deeply involved in the international drug trade, thesefacts have been kept from the general public. The sporadicvoices offormer American officials whocautionagainst aimingthe KLA are drowned outby thebattle cries ofthe administration.

Thedecision by the corporate media in the United States notto expose the KLA's involvement in the international drug tradeappears to be as politically motivated as the efforts of the StateDepartment to portray the KLA as freedom fighters. Unliketheir counterparts in the United States, European journalistshave reported on the sources that finance the KLA. Large numbers ofAlbanians from Kosmet (Kosovo and Metohija)—whohave falsely claimed the right to asylum in Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, and Belgium—are raising funds through armssmuggling, drug trafficking, and prostitution. According to theCorriere della sera (March 6, 1998), Albanians from Kosovowho live in Switzerland, Germany, and the United States areinvolved in a variety ofillegal activities, especially drug smuggling, and they use aportion of their profits to finance terroristactivities.

The latest police action against the Kosovo mafia, made public after almost a year of investigation, occurred in Milan.

Marko Lopusina, a Belgrade-based journalist who has coveredinternational, Balkan, and Yugoslav politics for over 20years, isthe author of, among others, The Black Book: Censorship inYugoslavia, 1945-1991. His new hook. Wars, Lies, and Videotapes: The CIA and the News Media Against Yugoslavia, willappearlater this year.

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Italian newspapers reported in early January that the heroinmarket inLombardy is controlled entirely by Kosovo Albanianswho do not even bother to launder their money in Italy buttransfer itdirectly to Kosmet and to Switzerland to finance theKLA. After police in Milan held a press conference to exposethe Kosovo Albanians' criminal organization, Rome's La Re-pubblica ran the headline (January 19); "Heroin Sold in MilanServes to Finance Kosovo LiberationArmy."

The latest discovery in Italy is just adrop in the ocean. Albanian organized crime rules the streets of Geneva, and in Hungary, the head of the narcotics division of the Hungarian police,Gydrgy Hollos, estimates that Albanian criminals control 80percent of the heroin market. The Hungarian newspaper Magyar Hirlap reported on November 15, 1997, that Albaniansfrom Kosmetcontrol almost the entire heroin market in Hungary and send part of their profits to separatists fighting for a"Greater Albania." The same is true in the Czech Republic,where police last year broke an Albanian drug gang, arresting 16people who were hiding 40,000 doses of heroin worth some300,000deutsche marks (DM).

When, after a recent bust inPrague, aYugoslav Albanian wascaptured with ten kilograms ofsmu^led heroin in his car, theYugoslav public was not surprised either by the swift action ofthe Czech police or by the ethnicity of the captured smu^ler.Only the quantity seemed odd, since the Kosovo Albaniancouriers who take drugs from Turkey to Europe and Americaused to smuggle slightly over three kilos ofheroin per person.The war in Kosovo has apparently led the Albanian underground to increase heroin deliveries from the Middle East tothe Western drug market. According to the Swiss and theFrench press, since the Colombian cartel entered the Old Continent in 1997 with drugs ofhigher quality and lower prices,Kosovo Albanian drug dealers have been forced to lower heroinprices, which has increased consumption of their white powder."

The Czechs first had troubles with the Kosovo Albanianmafia in 1992, when Yugoslavs (mostly from Kosovo) began toimmigrate. That year, as many as 20,000 illegal immigrantswere stopped at the border. The police confiscated 50 kilos ofheroin and arrested 35 people in one bust alone—four Czechsand 31 Kosovo Albanians. TheCzech police haddismantled agang from Kosmet and their network ofdealers, all of whomlived in Prague. One of them, Sali Bakija, had been pursued foran entire year by the Czech police in an operation called Andromeda."

In July 1996, Czech police arrested another group of Balkandrug dealers. The "Sirius" operation resulted in the capture ofthree Kosovo Albanians and approximately 100 kilos ofheroinworth half a million Czech crowns. One of the three, RamizSadiku, was born in Kosovo in 1953, and the other two.

Mehmet Dzevat and Sali Recica, were also bom in Yugoslaviain the late 1960's. There are about 50,000 former Yugoslavs in

'the Czech Republic today; halfofthem are Albanians serving asaccomplices to the Albanian mafia and dmg dealers.

Albanians and Kosovo Albanians, together with their fellown̂ationals from Turkey, have been involved in dmg smugglingfor over 30 years. The Albanians started as couriers for the Turkish and Bulgarian state mafias, who smuggled dmgs to fund secret political, military, and intelligence operations. The majority were recruited from the "Kosovo triangle (the cities ofVeliki Tmovac, Presevo, and Gnjilane), one ofthe black spotson Interpol's map ofworld dmg routes.

As Allen Labrousse, aFrench expert on dmg smuggling, toldtheWashington Post last year;

Powerful Turkish clans, who used tocontrol [the] European heroin market, found out that, over the past teriyears, their terrain had been infringed upon by Russian,Caucasian, and Albanian drug Mafia looking for theirshare ofthe market and profit. The Kosovar Albanianshave grown so strong that they have control over seventypercent of the dmg market in Switzerland only. At thismoment, atleast 2,000 Kosovar Albanians are in jails inthis country for dmg dealing. The war in the Balkans dis-mpted former Yugoslav channels for dmg smugglingfrom the Middle East to the Old Contineiit; over the lastfour years, however, nimble Kosovo Albanians openednew distribution centers andnew passages totheWest.TheAlbanian connection represents theheroin routethat causes most problems to European states and theirpolice forces.

Today, there are about 500,000 Kosovo Albanians in Europe.This base has strengthened the Albanian dmg mafia intwo important ways. The first is the accumulation of capital throughtrafficking in dmgs and weapons and through other criminal activities, such as car theft. The second is the organization ofAlbanians from Kosmet, Macedonia, Albania, andTurkey into asingle drug trust headquartered in New York, with branches inChicago, Tirana, Skopje, Istanbul, Pristina, Sofia, Prague, Budapest, Moscow, Frankfurt, Zurich, and Brussels.

Gyorgy Hollos, head of the narcotics division of the Hungarian police, said recently that

About 20tons ofheroin destined for Germany arrivesfrom the Far East to our border. Last year, we seized 812kilos ofthis dmg, which is twice as much as ... in previous years. Greater quantities ofdmgs are smuggled intrucks arriving from many countries with ... intemation-al markings, which guarantees the protection of this cargo from our customs and police inspection. Unless wechange our regulations, we cannot cut this heroin channel, which is coordinated by three pngs in Budapest.The biggest is the Turkish-Hungarian gang; the Hungarian-Kosovo Albanian gang is also strong, while the Hungarian-Arabic is the weakest.

In Istanbul, DM 50,000 buys a kilogram of90 percent pureheroin. In the spring of1996, customs officers atthe KapetanAndreevo crossing on the border between Turkey and Bulgariaarrested Osman Haliti, Fatmir Haliti, and Rehmar Kelemendi(all of Kosovo), who were transporting 320 liters of anhydrous

acid for heroin production. During questioning, all three admitted that they were working as couriers for "Bojci,' a secretgroup ofBulgarian dmg dealers.

According to Interpol, the dmg route from Southeast Asia toconsumer markets in Westem Europe passes through Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and finally Turkey, where the raw dmgs arerefined. Interpol estimates that about 90 percent of heroinseized in Europe comes from Turkey, by way of Bulgaria andMacedonia. As aresult ofthe wars inthe former Yugoslavia, the"Balkan route" forked into two—a northern one, through Bulgaria, Rumania, and Macedonia; and asouthern one, throughGreece, Macedonia, andAlbania.

For poor Albanians, dmg smuggling is away out of poverty.Last year, a 12-year-old Albanian boy was arrested in

southem Italy, in the port ofBari, with five kilos ofhashish in hisknapsack. He told police that he wanted to serfe in Italy andthat he had been ordered to smuggle the drugs in exchange forpassage from the Albanian port ofValone.

After three years of dmg trafficking in Switzerland, 25-year-old Artan Hodza became arich man. "I was transporting heroin from Istanbul, via Skopje, to Zurich," says Hodza. Once, foedmg was in agas tank; another time, two young Norwegian girlsdiverted customs officers. Artan and his twin brother, Arben,used to earn as much as DM 10,000 a month in Switzerland.Back in Albania, Hodza was earning less than DM 100 amonth. His dmg earnings have allowed him to build aluxurious house in Sijak, atown of11,000 hafovay between foe porteof Drac and Tirana. The house, which cost DM 200,000 andfeatures aswimming pool and Italian furniture, is one of 700new estates ina town where three factories have closed.

In 1993, Interpol arrested about ahundred Kosovo Albaniansinvolved in foe international drug trade. Nearly 50 were detained in Germany and approximately 20 in Swiberland. Italyalso arrested about 20 Kosovo Albanian smugglers. Thesameyear, eight European countries worked together to break up the"Benjamin" smuggling ring. Another 330 dealers were arrested, and approximately 250 kilos of heroin was seized.

Long before the Bosnian war broke out, Yugoslavia warnedInterpol and the United Nations that the Kosovo Albanianmafia was spreading across the world. As early as 1988, the Yugoslav government sent information to the United Nationsabout 5,000 Albanians in Kosovo who were involved in heroinsmuggling in Europe. That same year, 55 Kosovo Albaniandrug dealers were arrested in Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav govem-ment's wamings were met with silence firom the United Nations and Interpol.

Recently, however, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, and Italy have all announced plans to deport Albanian offenders. Under pressure from citizens upset over increasingtroubles with Albanians, who have filled Swiss prisons, foe Berngovernment has decided to revoke foe political asylum of manyAlbanians and return them to Yugoslavia. Since most ofthemdo not have Yugoslav papers, however, Belgrade does not wantto accept them. Switzerland is attempting to deport 153 Albanians, and Belgium, Austria, and even foe United States mayfollow suit. Aquick glance at foe situation ina few countrieswill indicate why. • i j u c •

In Switzerland, the Kosovo Albanian mafia is led by SamiSabedini, better known by his nickname, "Baron." The 40-year-old owner of foe Plaus Gafe in Zurich was amajor supplier ofdrugs to Switzerland. The Swiss police shadowed Sabedi-

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ni for a yearandsecretly recorded some6,000 ofhis "business"conversations, Hewas apprehended in the spring of 1995, sentenced to 17 years in prison, and sent to the Regensdorf jail.While being transferred to Bern for a second trial in January1996, Sabedini escaped from the train. The Swiss suspect thathe now lives in the Czech Republic and controls the distributionof drugs to the Zurich market from there.

Swiss police estimate that Kosovo Albanians bring in 500kilograms of heroin per month. Zurich alone has 5,000 harddrug addicts, and the state recently bought 500 kilograms ofheroin for use in rehabilitation. There are about 250,000Albanians in Switzerland (about 150,000 from Kosovo); in additionto the drug trade, many of them are involved in illegal work,theft, and begging.

In 1995, a series of police raidsand court trials in France revealed the involvement ofAlbanian gangs inorganized crime ofall kinds, from heroin smuggling to child prostitution. Earlythis year, members ofan Albanian drug gang were arrested inKemper, in westem France, afterpolice discovered a nehvork ofillegal activities covering all orBrittany. Their leader, 30-year-old Arben Korba, was sentenced to eight years inprison. Korbacommanded 16 Albanians who were smu^lingcars from Germany and taking heroin to Kemper and other French cities."Korba has a typical file," the police told me. "He arrived in1990 and was registered asa political refugee. However, lateron he gotinvolved in crime."

In 1994, the Geopolitical Drug Observatory, agroup headquartered inParis, reported that onearmed group, known as

the Albanian Resistance Movement and National LiberationFront, trades in heroin in order to buyweapons and fund theseparatist cause in Kosovo. The French found strong indications that, as early as ten years before, the entire business ofdrugsmuggling had been organized by the chiefe of theAlbanian secretservice, who control the Albanian underground even today.The Observatory recommended thatAlbanian criminals be deported.

Judging bypolice reports, Germanymay have the most trouble with Yugoslav offenders, particularly with Albanians. TheGermans used togrant them political asylum; now, they want toexpel them. German Police Minister Manfred Janter says thatoneofevery ten criminals arrested in Germany comes from theformer Yugoslavia. Last summer, about40 criminals were arrested inWestphalia andLower Saxony, most ofthem from Yugoslavia. The Buckbach prison near Frankfurt houses 530 inmates, 27 ofthem Yugoslavs. According to the Kosmet weekhZen, as many as 1,200 Albanians are on the list ofdangerou;criminals in Germany. The Frankfurt police have a separatedepartment for fighting Yugoslav criminals. Joseph Schutse, director oftheFrankfurt prison, said that, 'Thirty years ago, Turkwere the first who started 'doing' drugs. Albanians got involveclater on,and, over the past five years, Serbs are doing itsporadically. The Kosovo network is fairly strong and is expanding althe time." He added that:

The chiefof[the] Albanian drugmafia in Frankfurt wasIso Azemaj, anAlbanian from Kosovo. Wecaptured himin 1995, sentenced him to life in prison for smugglingandmurder, buthemanaged toescape during his transportation to [a] prison hospital He is now hiding inPortugal. Weexpect thePortuguese toextradite him tousoneday, since he had fired ata police officer.

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In North America, Kosovo Albanians form one of thestronger links in the Golombian chain of drug distribution.They are active in New York, where there are 60,000 ofthem,and in Ghicago and Toronto. According to some estimates,they make about 550 million a year on heroin. Milan Vujic, aGhicago policeman, told me that:

Our policeha\e troubles with the Albanian underground, since they areclose-knit and difficult to handle.U.S. policemen do notknow theAlbanian language; secondly, they almost cannotdistinguish them from TurksandArabs, anddo notmanage to infiltrate their ownagents intotheir ranks. Albanians coverup for their business by working at restaurants registered asGreeks, Turks,Kurds, Arabs. The Kosovar Albanians are very well connected among themselves; they areobedient and disciplined ... andruthless insettling accounts with informants within their ranks. Their couriers for heroindistribution across the U.S. include elderly women, evenchildren, who cannot speak English, and therefore wecan hardly obtainany useful information from them during investigation. Albanians invest the profits they earnedonheroin into houses andentire neighborhoods inNewYork andGhicago. In the Bronx, they even bought someSerbian houses in order toerectan ethnically clean suburb for themselves.

Yugoslav police have a registry of "Wanted" circulars. It isasmall green book, held by all police officers atborder crossings,and it includes about 1,500 names ofYugoslavs and foreignersunderpolice supervision. Albanians are the most numerous onthis list ofsupervised persons.

AnAlbanianscholar from Pristina,Dr. Kadri Bicaj,disturbedby themajor role that Kosovo Albanians play in the world's dmgtrade, has established theAssociation for Fighting Drug Addiction andDrug Smu^ling in Kosovo. Butthedangers posed bvAlbanian drug smuggling are not only physical and spiritual;they are political. TheAlbanian underground is extensively involved in the political life ofKosmet, anda portion of.Albaniandrug profits returns to Kosmet as an investment into .Albanianseparatism. The sponsors ofAlbanian separatist movements also include the secret services ofseveral major countries,who finance some of their own political activities in other countriesthrough drug smu^ling. -.c

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