The Rise of the Albanian Mafia Episode 7: How does the Albanian Mafia maintain its power? Through the strategic use of ruthless violence, the sowing of corruption, and an ability to launder its money at home.
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The Albanian mafia have established themselves as key players in human trafficking, cannabis production and cocaine trafficking across Europe, which has helped them grow from low-level criminal gangs to a powerful transnational organised crime network in a short space of time, now sitting among the most powerful organised crime groups in Europe. So now they’re high-level players, how do they stay there?
We start by looking at the reputation for extreme violence that the Albanian mafia has developed among the fraternity of European organised crime – how does this tie into their wider criminal operations in Europe, Latin America, and back home in Albania? What are some of the ways in which Albanian organised crime networks employ the use of violence and intimidation? Does this differ from other organised crime groups? We examine their reputation, and their reported strategic use of violence in Europe and in Albania, with high-profile violence rare close to their criminal trades, but more readily used in Albania, often against the family members of their intended target.
But it’s not enough to control the lucrative trafficking of cocaine and cannabis without being able to enjoy the proceeds of these trades – so how does the Albanian mafia launder its money? We look at the different money laundering operations carried out by Albanian criminal networks, from car washes in the UK to hotels and restaurants in Europe – and Albania’s status as a vital destination for money laundering activities, not just for the Albanian mafia, but for some of their criminal associates, including Italian mafia groups such as the ‘Ndrangheta, and Mexican cartels such as the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
Then we look at how the Albanian mafia are able to carry out these operations; through the sowing of widespread corruption in Albania, with corruption in the police, judiciary and politics a key tool of their trade. But it’s not just in Albania where the Albanian mafia exploits corruption: as the recent Encuentro and Gran Padrino scandals in Ecuador have demonstrated, the Albanian mafia has benefited from corruption in Latin America too, from their ties to politically influential figures, to the corruption of the judiciary that has led some of the biggest drug traffickers in the world to avoid or escape from Ecuador’s prisons. Finally, corruption in Europe’s ports is a key part of their cocaine trafficking operations – are we really as resilient to corruption as we may like to think?
Watch the full episode now to learn how the Albanian mafia maintains their position among Europe’s biggest mafia groups.
Chapters:
Intro: 00:00-00:46
Violence: 00:46-12:08
Money Laundering: 12:08-21:02
Corruption in Albania: 21:02-26:50
Corruption in Ecuador: 26:50-30:46
Corruption in Europe: 30:46-36:19
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