se times
15/11/2010
Police rack up two major busts in one week, ahead of the EU's decision to grant Albanians visa-free travel.
By Linda Karadaku for Southeast European Times in Tirana -- 15/11/10
Police rack up two major busts in one week, ahead of the EU's decision to grant Albanians visa-free travel.
By Linda Karadaku for Southeast European Times in Tirana -- 15/11/10
Albania has been beefing up its fight against organised crime, culminating with two seemingly impressive operations earlier this month.
On November 4th, police and the Task Force of the Prosecution's Office in the coastal district of Durres arrested five people, allegedly with $101m in counterfeit US dollars in their possession. Authorities announced that the fake bills are thought to have come from Macedonia. Three of those arrested were from Skopje and the village of Ljuboten. The other two are from the northern Albanian town of Shkodra. Police say they are working to identify others who may have been involved.
The unusual part is the denomination. Authorities say these were bills worth $1m each. The United States has never issued currency of that denomination. The highest was the $100,000 issued as a gold certificate in 1934 and never circulated among the public. Beyond that, why would $1m bills be forged, given the difficulty in spending them or exchanging them? Novelty bills for $1m, after all, are usually given as gag gifts or souvenirs.
Investigators are looking at whether the forged dollars could be used in the market to manipulate and buy goods in massive amounts. Police in Durres say that the group is believed to be the same one accused of forging 2,000 euros seized one month ago, in the 200-euro denomination.
Two days before the currency bust, police seized eight kilos of cocaine, hidden in a shipping container filled with bagged rice. Authorities estimate it is worth 500,000 euros.
Two Tirana residents were arrested: one described as a businessman and the other as an administrator of an export-import company. A third suspect remains at large.
The cocaine, originating in Bolivia, had moved by ship through the Dutch port of Rotterdam to La Valetta, in Malta, before finally reaching its destination, the port of Durres. Intercepted in Rotterdam, Dutch and Albanian authorities co-operated closely to ensure the success of the operation.
Prosecutor Enejd Nakuci told local media that the investigation spanned more than a month after Dutch authorities identified the container in port and communicated their findings to the Albanian General Prosecution's Office.
"Fighting this illegal activity has been defined as one of the priorities of the work done from the Financial Anti-Crime structure in Durres, which co-operates closely with the joint investigation unit Task Force, at the District Prosecution's Office," police said, adding that special methods are being used to investigate cases related to corruption, smuggling, forgery and tax evasion.
On November 4th, police and the Task Force of the Prosecution's Office in the coastal district of Durres arrested five people, allegedly with $101m in counterfeit US dollars in their possession. Authorities announced that the fake bills are thought to have come from Macedonia. Three of those arrested were from Skopje and the village of Ljuboten. The other two are from the northern Albanian town of Shkodra. Police say they are working to identify others who may have been involved.
The unusual part is the denomination. Authorities say these were bills worth $1m each. The United States has never issued currency of that denomination. The highest was the $100,000 issued as a gold certificate in 1934 and never circulated among the public. Beyond that, why would $1m bills be forged, given the difficulty in spending them or exchanging them? Novelty bills for $1m, after all, are usually given as gag gifts or souvenirs.
Investigators are looking at whether the forged dollars could be used in the market to manipulate and buy goods in massive amounts. Police in Durres say that the group is believed to be the same one accused of forging 2,000 euros seized one month ago, in the 200-euro denomination.
Two days before the currency bust, police seized eight kilos of cocaine, hidden in a shipping container filled with bagged rice. Authorities estimate it is worth 500,000 euros.
Two Tirana residents were arrested: one described as a businessman and the other as an administrator of an export-import company. A third suspect remains at large.
The cocaine, originating in Bolivia, had moved by ship through the Dutch port of Rotterdam to La Valetta, in Malta, before finally reaching its destination, the port of Durres. Intercepted in Rotterdam, Dutch and Albanian authorities co-operated closely to ensure the success of the operation.
Prosecutor Enejd Nakuci told local media that the investigation spanned more than a month after Dutch authorities identified the container in port and communicated their findings to the Albanian General Prosecution's Office.
"Fighting this illegal activity has been defined as one of the priorities of the work done from the Financial Anti-Crime structure in Durres, which co-operates closely with the joint investigation unit Task Force, at the District Prosecution's Office," police said, adding that special methods are being used to investigate cases related to corruption, smuggling, forgery and tax evasion.
Albania had worked hard to fight organised crime and corruption as it awaited this month's final word on visa liberalisation. Addressing parliament in late October, Interior Minister Lulzim Basha said "There is crime, but there is also the fight against crime." Just a few days before, a senior police officer was killed in Vlora and a mayor was shot dead in a municipality in Kukes district.
Ermal Hasimja, a co-founder of the European University in Tirana, does not link visa liberalisation to crime, noting criminals have always managed to get around travel requirements. "Violators of the law did not suffer at any time for visas. It was the common citizens who suffered," Hasimja told SETimes.
Genc Mlloja, a former Albanian diplomat in the United States and editor in chief of the Albanian-English newspaper, Albanian Daily News, believes recent developments are not related to visa liberalisation at all.
"The problem is the political stalemate, the vacuum in the parliament," Mlloja told SETimes.
This content was commissioned for SETimes.com.
Ermal Hasimja, a co-founder of the European University in Tirana, does not link visa liberalisation to crime, noting criminals have always managed to get around travel requirements. "Violators of the law did not suffer at any time for visas. It was the common citizens who suffered," Hasimja told SETimes.
Genc Mlloja, a former Albanian diplomat in the United States and editor in chief of the Albanian-English newspaper, Albanian Daily News, believes recent developments are not related to visa liberalisation at all.
"The problem is the political stalemate, the vacuum in the parliament," Mlloja told SETimes.
This content was commissioned for SETimes.com.
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