EU study: Western Balkan Mafia networks, key role in drug trade

The report explains that, the strategic position of countries like Albania, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Kosovo, coupled with high demand for drugs, especially in the European Union and Turkey, have accelerated criminal groups' operations.

Some EU nations are located on trafficking routes that pass through the Western Balkans before returning to the EU. This means that trafficking flows can be complex”, the report says in question, which is part of a larger regional study conducted between 2019 and 2022.

Numerous communities in EU countries also offer a group of individuals who can be exploited or recruited by these networks, the report said.

The EU drug agency, EMCDDA reported on the activities of groups from the Western Balkans to Belgium and the Netherlands, where ports like Antwerp and Rotterdam play an important role in drug trafficking in the EU.

According to agency EMCDDA, Balkan drug networks have major interests in countries like Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom when talking about cocaine, heroin and cannabis markets.

These networks have used the latest technology to improve the efficiency of drug production, trafficking and money laundering, the report says.

These include complex interior cultivation devices, the use of drones, the use of digital coins, and encrypted communications.

Both the Western Balkans and EU countries serve as shelters for criminals hiding from rival criminal groups or law enforcement agencies.

“Members of Italian and Turkish criminal networks reportedly evade justice by settling in the Western Balkans, while Russian criminal organisations are thought to be involved in money laundering activities along the coastline of the region”, the EU anti-drug agency said, EMCDDA.