Port-to-Port: How Albanians Conquered the European Cocaine Market

BIRN reporters trace the rise of Albanian crime gangs to the top of the European cocaine trafficking ladder, from remote parts of Paraguay to European Union ports. 

Today, Albanians are among the top ‘service providers’ and have expanded their influence across the entire cocaine supply chain, according to a months-long review of court documents from nine SPAK cases and interviews with Albanian and international experts on organised crime, academics and prosecutors.

Between December 2019 and March 2021 alone, Albanian criminal groups are suspected of having trafficked tens of tons of cocaine from Latin America to Europe with a market value of billions of euros.

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