ZDF documentary on Albanian gangs: How the poorest country in the Balkans leads drug and arms trafficking in the heart of Europe

We have heard in many European countries and even across the ocean often as leaders of drug trafficking clans, but Albanian gangs are seeking to extend their tentacles to Germany.

Prestigious German media 'ZDF' has published a report on Albanian criminal gangs, which is part of a series of documentaries dedicated to criminal gangs around the world.

Journalist David Beriain who made this documentary was in Albania to see closely the structures of this criminal organization. In the documentary, the journalist also talks to some masked people, who do not give much detail about what they are.

According to the report, in Germany, the Albanian mafia acts with extreme brutality from its own ranks. They act on what they call "honor" when enemy families commit conflicts generation after generation ending in deadly revenge.

One summer evening in 2021 in the middle of the lively Berlin Wedding neighborhood more than 20 bullets came out of a car towards the guests of a bar seriously injuring some of them. Berlin police are investigating Albanian rival drug gangs that have dominated the drug trade in the capital for years. While Albanian clans have so far been considered the main cannabis traders in Germany, they are now making much higher profits in the most lucrative cocaine business.

Poverty, corruption and archaic codes

After decades of isolation under Hoxha's Stalinist regime, the poorest country in the Balkans, Albania, has only since 1990 been open to Europe and a free market society. But corruption in the highest political positions makes most Albanians doubt the state apparatus and its laws to this day. For centuries they have believed in the unwritten rules of the "Kanun", which puts the family above everything else and is characterized by terms such as "honor" and "revenge". Young people often find their perspective in criminal and well-organized gangs that proudly display the benefits of the international drug trade in villas and luxury cars in their homeland.

The phenomenon of organized Albanian mafia clans has been evident in Germany since the 1990s. In the middle of Germany, Albanian "traitors" who oppose gangs are punished with so-called honor killings. In addition to drug trafficking, in which Albanian families were set up by small partners of Italian mobsters into direct importers in South America, arms bargaining, theft and prostitution are among the main criminal activities of Albanian criminals.

Favored by the liberal visa policy in Albania, the authors change their identity at home whenever they want. This makes it even more difficult for German investigators to search and investigate. The law of silence prohibits any cooperation with the German police under the threat of death.

Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg - mafia structure everywhere

Klanet mafioze shqiptare kanë dominuar prej kohësh tregun e drogës në të gjitha qytetet kryesore gjermane, veçanërisht në Berlin dhe Frankfurt. Ata sigurisht bashkëpunojnë me Hells Angels në rrethet përkatëse të dritave të kuqe, si në Hamburg ose Frankfurt. Për shkak të komunitetit të fortë shqiptar dhe kosovar në Zvicrën gjermanishtfolëse, trekëndëshi kufitar me Francën në zonën e Lörrach/Basel ka qenë prej vitesh një pikë e nxehtë për kontrabandën e drogës dhe armëve. Përpjekjet e Shqipërisë për t’u anëtarësuar në BE nën kryeministrin Edi Rama kanë dështuar gjithmonë për shkak të persekutimit të paqëndrueshëm të bosëve të drogës në Shqipëri.

Massive cannabis cultivation, especially in the deep mountain valleys in the north and south of the country, provides the farming population with a better income than classical field work. Albanian politics in Tirana has been moving in this area of ​​tension for years.

How to deal with killer gangs?

The daily brutality with which Albanian drug gangs operate in the middle of Germany distinguishes them from already much more discreet organizations, such as the Italian mafia clans. Penetrating into the global cocaine business, they are now dealing with large sums of money in the billions.

To be able to take more effective action against the murderous business of the Albanian mafia in Germany, investigators and investigators would need much more human and technical resources. Express newspaper