Albanian criminal organizations are presenting a high level of danger and an increasingly deep involvement in illegal activities, especially in drug and arms trafficking.

This is stated in the report of the Directorate of Anti-Mafia Investigations (DIA) for the second half of 2022.

According to the document obtained by Euronews Albania, Albanian groups are well-structured and maintain their power through family ties.

At the same time, they are technically equipped and capable of carrying out criminal activities through smaller groups entrusted with specific tasks.

“For all these reasons, these criminal associations appear very dangerous and combative,” says the report.

Furthermore, Albanian organizations are well-organized internationally, capable of directly mediating with South American cartels for the import of large quantities of cocaine, which is then distributed to interethnic cells operating in the main drug distribution areas in Italy.

For this reason, as shown by numerous anti-drug operations carried out in various regions of Italy, Albanian groups work in synergy with Italian native criminal organizations.

According to the report, the income that Albanian criminal associations have generated over the years from marijuana trafficking through the so-called “Balkan route” has been invested in cocaine trafficking. Cocaine is imported through commercial ports in Antwerp, Rotterdam, and Hamburg, where over time, they have managed to infiltrate efficiently.

The DIA report further states that the geographical position of the Albanian coastlines opposite Pugliese ports continues to play an important role and is one of the reasons why criminal groups from both countries collaborate with each other.

“Consequently, such groups constitute a real and substantial criminal reality,” says the report.

It adds that Albanian clans also play a significant role in human trafficking and illegal immigration.