Albanian mafia

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The Albanian Mafia or Albanian Organized Crime (OC) are the general terms used for various criminal organizations based in Albania or composed of ethnic-Albanians. Albanian criminals are significantly active in the United States and the European Union (EU) countries, participating in a diverse range of criminal enterprises from human trafficking and prostitution to narcotics & gunrunning. Although the term "mafia" is often used as a description, it does not imply that all Albanian criminal activities are coordinated or regulated by an overarching governing body headquartered in Albania proper, Kosovo or elsewhere. Despite media reports that oftentimes have the effect of suggesting an emerging global Albanian mafia "movement" or network, this interpretation has not been substantiated.

Contents 1 Organizational structure and history 2 Relationship with the US Government and Al-Qaeda 3 Relationship with the KLA 4 Albanian Mafia in the United States 5 Notes

[edit] Organizational structure and history

Ethnic Albanian criminal organizations have proven particularly difficult for law enforcement agencies, largely due to a unique Albanian social structure and culture that dates back centuries and makes infiltration by outsiders nearly impossible. Dusan Janjic, Coordinator of the Forum for Ethnic Relations in Serbia, cites three reasons for the success of the Albanian mafia: "Firstly they speak a language that few people understand. Secondly, its internal organization is based on family ties, breeding solidarity and safety. Thirdly there is the code of silence and it is perfectly normal for somebody to die if he violates the code." It is claimed that 15 leading family clans in Albania (fis or fares) have controlled clandestine smuggling operations since the era of communist dictator Enver Hoxa. After Albania became a democracy in 1991, these fis increased their criminal control of Albania and, during the collapse of the Albanian economy in 1997, the 15 fis consolidated complete domination over criminal activity in Albania. Corruption has reached to the very top of Albanian politics, so much so that the Albanian parliament has been dubbed by some observers as the "Kalashnikov parliament" because of its apparent indifference to organized crime and close ties to weapons dealers. ^[1]

[edit] Relationship with the US Government and Al-Qaeda

Yossef Bodansky, director of the Congressional anti-terrorism task force 1998 noted :

"A serious investigation of the Albanian Mob isn't going to happen, because they're 'our boys'... they're protected."

He went on to say-

"The Role of the Albanian Mafia, which is tightly connected to the KLA, is laundering money, providing technology, safe houses, and support to paramilitary forces within the Kosovo region."

^[2]

[edit] Relationship with the KLA

The nature of the relationship between the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and Albanian organized crime has been a controversial subject. During the 1990s the KLA was viewed by many, including top US government personnel, as a freedom fighting organization struggling for the rights of ethnic Albanians, while others claimed that the KLA was a terrorist group financed and guided by the United States. For example, Senator Joe Lieberman said regarding the KLA: "The United States and the Kosovo Liberation Army stand for the same values and principles...fighting for the KLA is fighting for human rights and American values."^[3]. In 1999 the U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee accentuated widespread allegations of the KLA's criminal connections, claiming that a "major portion of the KLA finances are derived from [criminal] networks, mainly proceeds from drug trafficking" the report goes on to say that former president Bill Clinton's befriending of the group is "consistent Clinton policy of cultivating relationships with groups known for terrorist violence... in what may be a strategy of attempting to wean away a group from its penchant for violence by adopting its cause as an element of U.S. policy."^[4]

[edit] Albanian Mafia in the United States

Albanian immigration to the United States began in limited amounts in the early 1900s, increased during the 1960s and peaked during and after the conflict in Kosovo. During the 1970s Albanian expatriates in the eastern US were actively recruited as couriers, transporters or assassins for the established Italian Mafia. The efficiency and brutality with which these members conducted criminal affairs helped them advance within the Mafia network, so much so, that by 1996 many of the primary assassins for the Gambino crime family were ethnic Albanians.

The FBI's prosecution of traditional Italian-American Mob Families in the 1990s weakened the Lucchese Family so greatly that the Rudaj Organization, of the Albanian Mob, were able to take over the Italian organization’s gambling operations in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens. And when the Lucchese Family was run out of the district, the Gambinos, another Italian-American Mafia Family, attempted to take their place before the Albanians could take full control of Astoria's gambling rackets. But the Rudaj Organization was able to hold their own against them, so the Gambinos gave up and accepted the fact that illegal gambling in Astoria was no longer under Italian-American rule.

The Rudaj Organization is the name given to the so-called Albanian mafia in the New York City area in a 44-page indictment unsealed on October 26, 2004. The FBI and Manhattan U.S. Attorney David Kelley announced the arrest of the group's alleged boss, Alex Rudaj, and twenty-six other reputed gang members indicted in connection with racketeering, attempted murder, robbery, extortion, gambling and loan-sharking. Kelley's office said it believes the indictment is the first federal racketeering case in the United States against an alleged organized crime enterprise run by Albanians.^[5] Alex Rudaj and five of his gang members were later convicted of racketeering on January 4, 2006.^[6]

[edit] Notes

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