How far do the arms of the Albanian drug clan go?

International security services are determining who is connected to the criminal group whose 29 members were arrested ten days ago in Albania and Italy, on suspicion of being part of a drug cell managed by two brothers from Albania, which smuggled large quantities of drugs from South America to Europe. quantities of cocaine.

According to "Vijesti" information from the foreign security service, the branch of the investigation that resulted in numerous arrests on November 5, also leads to their associates from the territory of the former Yugoslavia.

That investigation began in November 2021 at the initiative of the Prosecutor's Office in Florence, and in the same year a joint investigative team of Italian and Albanian police officers and prosecutors was created, to which Europol and Eurojust submitted intercepted communications between criminal organizations, conducted via the once encrypted Sky application.

According to Europol information, an organized criminal group was active in the wholesale distribution of narcotics on the Italian market. Drugs were smuggled in containers with exotic fruits on ships from South America arriving in European ports. Upon arrival, special teams hired by the drug gang removed the cocaine from the container and further distributed it to other criminal groups throughout the European Union.

The estimated value of the drugs seized during the operation is 70 million euros.

On the day when the arrest operation was carried out, 27 suspects were detained in Italy, two in Albania, and during the operation more than two tons of cocaine, 45 kilograms of hashish and 20 kilograms of marijuana were seized.

On the same day when 29 members of that drug cell were arrested in Italy and Albania, dozens of searches were carried out in France, Spain and Romania.

In addition to narcotics trafficking, this criminal organization has established a sophisticated money laundering system to hide the vast revenues gained from illegal activities.

Europol explains that their experts were involved in the operation from the very beginning, helping to identify and monitor the financial flows of that drug clan.

"By cross-checking the data provided by national investigators, the case specialist and the analyst discovered a connection between the ongoing investigations, thus completing the intelligence picture. This made it possible to organize an operational meeting, which resulted in the action carried out on November 5, 2024," Europol said after the action.