German media write about operation 'Fijet': Who is the 'Big Brother' of 2.8 million inhabitants in Albania?

Operation 'Fijet', thanks to which hundreds of surveillance cameras were dismantled by criminal groups in several cities in the country, have attracted the attention of the German media.

Fr.de writes that the clans in Albania have almost everything under surveillance thanks to surveillance technology, while raising the question of who is the 'Big Brother' of the 2.8 million inhabitants in Albania?

Excerpt from the article : 

Clans in Albania have almost everything under surveillance thanks to surveillance technology.

However, cameras illegally mounted on Albania's dusty roads, which are by no means secret or hidden, are increasingly raising the question of the EU candidate as to who exactly is the big brother of the country's 2.8 million inhabitants. Because many of the surveillance lenses, which are mushrooming, are installed not only by law enforcement officers in the Adriatic state, but also by lawbreakers: powerful but often rival drug clans, not only who keep an eye on each other with modern surveillance cameras and drones, but also on the police.

Police in Albania dismantled more than 220 illegal cameras in the capital alone

In mid-January, Albanian police in the provincial city of Shkodra dismantled more than 50 illegal cameras for the first time. Likewise in Durrës, Elbasan, Fier, Korçë or Vlorë - more than 450 cameras have already been removed throughout the country. In Tirana alone, more than 220 illegally installed surveillance devices were tracked down - and dismantled.

The news about security cameras increasingly located by suspicious owners has raised concerns about data security in Albania. "The technological superiority of criminal groups" compared to the state is "very blatant", says Erida Skendaj, chair of the Helsinki Committee in Tirana. "Illegal surveillance cameras in Albania raise concerns about the power of gangs," headlines the agency Balkan Insight.

Drug clans in Albania monitor each other with illegal cameras

Albania is considered one of the largest producers of cannabis on the continent. With cameras and drones, drug gangs can monitor plantations, properties and neighborhoods much cheaper and more effectively than guards and security services, investigative journalist Artan Hoxha explains for the "sot.com.al" portal. "Criminals, gangs have the best security system. And their operational centers are better than the police."

 "You can find underworld cameras everywhere in Albania. Clans install them for their own safety - and for the safety of their families," he adds.