How Albanians in the Netherlands built the drug empire

Albanian criminals have soon built a drug empire in the Netherlands, writes Dutch portal NRC.nl.

In the article on “Onzichtbare Albanezen lymenop in cochen” or “Invisible Albanians invade the NRC cocaine market.nl, prosecutor Otto van der Bijl has told the media how Albanians are conquering the cocaine market in the Netherlands.

Here's a piece of writing: “If you ask an Albanian arrested in the Netherlands for drug trafficking it always gives the same excuse, that you are visiting Amsterdam as a tourist. And if you ask him what he's doing in town, he can't show any tourist attractions. What Albanians fail to explain is why they have thousands of euros with them when the average monthly salary in Albania is about 330 euros”- says prosecutor Otto van der Bijl.

Last Thursday, most of the House of Representatives ( V VD, PVV, CDA, SP and CU voted in favour of reintroducing visa demand for Albanians. They can now travel across Europe for three months without visas. Criminals use this period to expand their smuggling networks, according to MP Madeleine van Toorenburg (CDA).

Police investigations show Albanians who have quickly built their own drug empire. According to Otto van der Bijl, Albanians are one of the most important drug gangs in the Netherlands.

Albanians manage drug lines from South America, including Colombia, Holland and Belgium. They sell mostly cocaine. It arrives through the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp and is then sent to Amsterdam, where the distribution center is, according to the officer.

It hides in cars and trucks and is then sent to other locations,” said Van der Biyle.

Over the past three years, about 1,700 Albanian suspects have been arrested in the Netherlands, according to recent police figures, citing Justice Minister Ferdinand Grapperhouse (CDA) and his colleague Stephen Block, Foreign Affairs Minister (VVD).

The suspects are linked to serious organised crime.

The number of arrests was much lower in previous years. The national assessment of the threats of 2017, a four-year review of organised crime, says: “The role of Albanians in drug trafficking is new”. The Netherlands has been working with Albania since May last year to fight criminal activities.

“Ten years ago, Albanians still worked as <x1 user” for the Italian mafia,”- said Van der Biyle. “They did different jobs for them. On behalf of the mafia, they fished partners at European ports. Albanians now work independently. ”

Albanians are known as very good businessmen, says an agent who was closely involved in investigations into Albanian criminals in the Netherlands and who for security reasons will not put his name in the paper. They offer good cocaine at low prices and are extremely reliable.

Cocaine is mainly thought about the international market, Van der Biyle said. As the detective says: “underground of Amsterdam concerns the local drug market, while Albanians do international trade”.

Due to market sharing, clashes between the two groups are rare, according to the detective and the officer.

Albanians are fighting bilateral clashes in their country, according to the detective. They have an extremely violent reputation, but they keep violence out of the scheme because they do not want to draw attention.

Two years ago, police and judiciary analysed the 50 most visited web sites in Albania and their use in the Netherlands, says Van der Biyle. For example, the police and the judiciary tried to see how many Albanians are staying in the Netherlands.

With 36,000 smartphones and nearly 4,500 tablets, one of those fifty websites from the Netherlands was visited in July 2017. About 8,000 equipment was deployed in Amsterdam and Amstelveen, the official says, while about 700-800 Albanians are officially registered in the Netherlands. “How is it possible?”

He has no answers. According to the detective, it is difficult for the police, since Albanian criminals are almost invisible. They rent apartments through private housing agents, but they're almost never registered at an address.

They sneak into their house through the parking garage under their apartment. Besides, they don't spend money, according to Van der Biyle, and “they don't wear gold chains”. They bring profits to hiding places in cars or bicycles in large shopping bags. Most have been sent to the country of origin, says Van der Biyle.

Sometimes it has been invested in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and the service industry in The Hague. In Rotterdam, criminals invest their money in bars and pizza.

We've found a hundred thousand euros of cash in a pizza owner's house. Albanians use a fraud after changing their last name. In Albania, as in other Eastern European countries, it is possible to change your surname several times. Criminals don't show up in the system during a search. In the event of the ban, fingerprints are taken, but the average customs official at the border requires only the last name. This has to be changed,” -the prosecutor added.

Another way to worry Albanian criminals is to resume visa requirements. The government cabinet appears to not support that. According to Minister Block, other European member states are not in favour of a visa requirement because Albania still meets the conditions for canceling this obligation. Albanian organisations are highly professional and have a large growth capacity. If they earn billions at one point, an organisation like the Italian mafia is created, which also tries to influence Dutch politicians. We fear this” /oranews