Girls, women in Albania exploited as drug trafficking tool

The phenomenon of growing, producing and trafficking drugs in Albania has affected women and girls.

They account for about 3% of the police procedures toal in the last five years. Reporter Mimoza Piciari spoke in the institution of executing criminal decisions in Tirana, with some of the 9 convicts for these criminal acts, out of 60 suffering the total sentence, and brings evidence of their involvement in trafficking and cultivation.

Most are girls aged 2030. Heavy economic conditions have in many cases pushed them toward quick illegal profit, but some have also been used by traffickers as a shield.

Officials say they are taking steps to prevent this phenomenon, enabling women and girls in rural areas to navigate towards social projects and agricultural programmes.

The involvement of women and girls in the cultivation phenomenon of production and drug trafficking in Albania has taken on disturbing proportions. Police statistics show that in the last five years, nearly 240 women and girls have been processed, or about 3% of total.

Today in the institution of execution of criminal decisions 325 women and girls suffer the sentence of 9 women and girls for criminal acts of cultivating production and drug trafficking from a total of 60. 27-year-old Rudina Hoxha is from Perrenjas.

I'm here for drugs. I have a little girl, I try to make her live a better life, we walk. I had cocaine, I was going through customs to Greece”

Very bad economic conditions forced me to commit this crime. I lived with my mother, she's passed away now. I was seven planted roots, I wanted to visit my mother. Only for my mother's”, says a 47-year-old who asked to remain anonymous.

“A few years ago, I had my mom sick. I didn't find a job. I was 15. The hospital was asking for $3,000. One day I started spreading cocaine and heroin. I would do it for my mother even if the time went back, because we were very poor”, says 30-year-old Sonia Dinoshi.

Lawyer Genc Gjokutaj gives a general assessment of this women and girls' readiness involved in trafficking and drug cultivation.

“in an overwhelming measure these women are unemployed, without livelihoods, without residence and above all without hope”.

Z. Interior Minister Rowena Voda, leader of the task force against cultivation, production and drug trafficking, says women and girls' procurement figures for these criminal acts are on the decline.

These women and girls, involved in this criminal activity, are a weak category, but there are girls students, it's a social issue involving women and girls in this event”.

Among the convicted is 23-year-old Redona Demolli.

I continued my higher education in English, French at Korca University. I woke up one morning with other things in mind and the thing that didn't come to mind, was that I would end up at this point where I am today, condemned by the court six years for trafficking narcotics”

I was on a trip to Croatia. The car I was in had narcotics, cannabis. I had no idea”, says a 27-year-old man who asked to remain anonymous.

There's probably a lot of catching up, but even the traffickers have been using female sex, because law enforcement and enforcement organs have suspected men, women are not suspected. The female is unfortunately a protagonist and a victim. He's been forced into traffic. Often it's a deal, you take over that you're less grounded, I go out and I help you get out of”, explain attorney Gjokutaj.

I first denied it. I didn't say I was with him, I said it was mine, because I thought I could throw it easier. When he was asked, he said nothing. I, he said, have no idea what this was in the bag. Until then I was holding the blame myself, saying it was mine, then I turned it around. Is it mine? I told him nervously- and you knew nothing!!! No, you knew. I told him you did. And then we got involved both”, says 23-year-old Redona Demolli.

One statistics analysis shows that in the last five years, the number of women and girls is higher in the criminal work of producing narcotic plants, about 140 prescribed. For lawyer Genc Gjokutaj this has an explanation.

“Kanabis invaded the country. He returned as an agricultural culture. Women have been used extensively with cannabis. In harvesting, irrigation, because it is a plant that wants service and lived with it. In fact, from Fieri, the one with the parcel even sent the fouring and food to the parcel”.

Women and girls are seen as vulnerable, easily and vulnerable, not endangered perhaps, and this has brought more women to drug production”, says Zv. Interior Minister Rowena Voda.

Lack of state brings incriminating of citizens says lawyer Gjokutaj. A conspiracy, which officials respond to by taking measures to prevent the involvement of women and girls in production and trafficking, enabling them not to end up on criminal networks.

We've been working with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Health and Social Management to create opportunities for women and girls who are a weak category, which means they're unemployed, family heads. We've put emphasis on the social part of this phenomenon. We're trying to break this idea that it can already plant cannabis”, says Z. Interior Minister Rowena Voda.

It seems that this idea has its roots, since the examples of cannabis crops and sales were similar to that of an agricultural culture, served by women and the juro without any change, explains attorney Genc Gjokutaj.

There had been a conflict because of a debt and the wife of the house was called and told how it happened. This tells him that he came looking for the debt we had postponed several times, we hadn't given it to him, and we told him to wait and this time sell the drugs. And that's what he used to say at court”.

All girls and women convicted of manufacturing and drug trafficking look beyond these walls. All of them dream of the first day of freedom, but there are also those who don't know what to do with freedom.

I don't even know what I'm going to do, how I'm going to build my life from the first”, says an convict who asked to remain anonymous.

Dorin, another convict, says: “My future... My future will be, creating a family. It's not gonna be easy in fact after all these years of prison”

“I don't want to live in Albania, there's no perspective”, says an alleged one that asked to remain anonymous.

My “was worth a very good lesson. That I don't have to do this anymore. I'll take the girl and go to Greece to the brothers, there's no other way”, says 27-year-old Rudina Hoxha of Perrenjas.

I think very often that first day and the thing I think about most is that I don't want to get into any car, I just want to walk, walk myself out there. I want to go to my house. Be me mom and dad. I want to stay with the two of them because I know I've become a pain for two parents”, says 23-year-old Redona Demolli. /voa