Albania was ranked as the largest producer of cannabis in the Western Balkans and one of the most important hubs in the Region for the processing and transit of hard drugs, such as heroin and cocaine from East to West. 

A recent report by the Global Initiative on Drug Trafficking and Money Laundering in 2020 showed that criminal groups from the Western Balkans are key players in the global drug business. 

Cocaine, Elbasan important center 

In 2019, police in the Balkans seized 255.4 kilograms of cocaine, 30% less than in 2018. Most of the cocaine seized was in Albania. Groups from the Region have become popular in the cocaine business in Western Europe over the past decade. 

Moreover, there have been bloody conflicts between two groups originating from Kotor to Montenegro over control of the cocaine market. But as these groups already have a dominant position along the supply chain from Latin America to major markets in Western Europe, there is not much interest in transit through the Balkans, other than supplying local markets that are showing growing demand. 

There is evidence to suggest that Adriatic ports in Albania and Montenegro (such as Durres and Bar) were used to import large shipments of cocaine, usually hidden in shipments of fruit or animal skins from Latin America, the study says. 

Drugs are usually stored before being mixed with other substances and broken down into small amounts between 3 and 10 kilograms each. They are then distributed throughout Europe, mainly in cars and trucks with special hidden compartments. A major entry point for cocaine is the Port of Bar in Montenegro. From there, cocaine is transported north to Niksic and then to Bosnia and Herzegovina via Trebinje. From there, it is transported north to Mostar and Sarajevo and eventually to Croatia. 

At this point, the cost of wholesale per kilogram is 35000 - 38000 euros. Cocaine is also transported from Podgorica to Rozaje and then North to Novi Pazar in Serbia or east to Kosovo via Peja. From there, cocaine could move to major cities in the region for local consumption. The wholesale cost of one kilogram of cocaine in Belgrade is between 35,000 and 50,000 euros. It can also be trafficked east to Turkey and Bulgaria, often in exchange for heroin, or north to Hungary and Austria and Germany. 

Cocaine entering Albania usually comes through the Port of Durres. It is estimated that the price per kilogram of cocaine (with 90% purity) on delivery is between 25,000 and 30,000 euros. From Durrës it is transported North to Podgorica along the same traffic routes crossed, to Bosnia and Croatia or transported east to Northern Macedonia and then along the routes used for smuggling other types of drugs. In 2015, a cocaine laboratory was discovered in the village of Xibraka in the Municipality of Elbasan destined for the German market. Since most cocaine is entering the region through Albania and Montenegro, the highest purity and therefore the most expensive cocaine is found in Tirana and Podgorica. 

Cocaine also enters the Western Balkans from Romania. In March 2019, Romanian police discovered a package with a kilogram of cocaine that had fallen from a van. After this incident, they seized about 1.8 tonnes of pure 90% balloon-wrapped cocaine in an overturned boat on the Black Sea coast around the Danube Delta. The estimated value of the seized cocaine was 600m euros, when the entire annual budget of the Municipality of Belgrade in 2019 was just over 1 billion euros. Romanian police arrested two people, both truck drivers from Vranje. The investigation showed that cocaine (originating from Brazil) entered Romania via Turkey and was supposed to reach Serbia by road, before being distributed to markets in Western Europe, mainly Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain. 

Cocaine entering North Macedonia or from Bulgaria, Albania or Kosovo goes south to Greece. The cost of one kilogram of cocaine at the customs point of Strumica is 45000 - 50,000 euros. At the end of January 2021, an Albanian, a Croat and a Greek citizen born in Albania were arrested in Thessaloniki after seizing 324 kilograms of cocaine. Since 2018, there have been four cases in which cocaine was discovered in the Port of Piraeus destined for Albania. 

Cocaine for consumption is spreading in several markets, especially in urban centers such as Belgrade, Nis, Podgorica, Sarajevo, Skopje and Tirana, as well as in tourist spots on the coast. The cocaine consumed in the region is not of good quality (with the exception of Tirana and Podgorica).

Heroin, processing and re-export in three directions from Albania 

According to estimates by the United National Center for Drug Monitoring (UNODC), about 60 to 65 tonnes of heroin are transported through Southeast Europe each year. There are indications that large shipments of heroin are stored in the Balkans, divided into smaller shipments and then shipped north from Serbia to Hungary or east through northern Macedonia and Kosovo to Albania. From Albania, heroin is shipped to Italy or through Montenegro, Bosnia and then to Croatia. 

Heroin enters the Western Balkans from Turkey via Bulgaria and, to a lesser extent, from Greece. It is estimated that the wholesale price of a kilogram of heroin in Turkey is around 10,000 to 13,000 euros. There are some Kurdish groups that sell heroin for half this price if the trafficker agrees to smuggle one kilogram to the Kurds for every kilogram bought. 

The main entry point for heroin is the area around Delcevo in northern Macedonia. This road goes through Kocani, Stip and Veles, and from there to the North towards Skopje. In these regions, one kilogram of heroin is sold in bulk between 12000 -15000 euros per kilogram. 

Around Skopje, the road is divided into three main directions. Through the customs point of Qafë Thana, the drugs enter Albania and then are transported to Elbasan, where the wholesale price is around 17000 euros per kilogram. 

Heroin also enters Albania from Kosovo via Kukes. In the last five years, more than 200 kilograms of heroin have been seized in Albania. A part of the heroin (estimated to be in shipments of 10 to 20 kilograms) is destined for the Port of Durres, where it is smuggled in cars transported by ferry to Italy. The heroin also moves north through Shkodra, through the Hani i Hotit - Bozaj crossing point in Montenegro and then transported through Niksic, west to Trebinje in Bosnia or northeast to Serbia. 

Some of the shipments coming from Albania and Kosovo go from Podgorica to Rozaje. Heroin passing through Bosnia is further transported from Trebinje to Croatia or trafficked to Mostar, Sarajevo or further north to Tuzla and Banja Luka. At this point, the wholesale price of a kilogram of heroin is estimated to be around 20,000 euros. From Turkey to the Balkans, the price of heroin doubles, but then prices rise at the same rate after being sold in the European Union. 

The Balkan region processes heroin coming from the East and transporting it to smaller units in the West. An example of how the region is used as a distribution center is illustrated by the seizure of 77 kilograms of heroin near the town of Mladenovac on the outskirts of Belgrade in November 2019. The head of a criminal group was accused of importing pure heroin from Turkey, hiding it in specially designed barrels. He is suspected of selling drugs to other criminal groups and distributors in Serbia. 

There are also data on the import of opium in Albania. Heroin laboratories were discovered in Fushë-Krujë in 2014 and Has in 2018, where a chemist from Turkey worked. There are also laboratories around Elbasan and Kukes. The production of heroin in the country from imported opium creates a much greater profit than the resale of imported heroin. 

Police have discovered over the past two years that the amount of heroin arriving from Turkey by small cruise ships and yachts has increased. Heroin is sometimes exchanged for cannabis. Therefore, in addition to the east-west flow of opium and heroin, there is also a west-east flow. Elbasan is a major center as it is on the main road between the Albanian coast and Greece and Northern Macedonia. Novi Pazar in Belgrade is another hotspot. Despite the significant amounts of heroin the region transits, local consumption levels do not appear to be very high. Heroin use seems to be declining. 

During the 2000s, the percentage of opioid users in the Western Balkans was higher than the global average. Recent estimates show that most people who enter drug treatment facilities use heroin or other opioids. Field evidence and police reports on seizures suggest that heroin to local users is of low quality, while that intended for resale and export is of high quality. 

The findings show that the Western Balkans is a transit region rather than a consumer market. The value of one kilogram of heroin increases by about 2000 euros for each customs point that passes.

Cannabis, Albania the largest producer in the Region 

Cannabis is the most widespread drug in the Balkans, but Albania is its largest producer. Cannabis cultivation has declined since 2016, the report says, but the drug is widely cultivated in some regions of the country, such as the Dukagjini and Kruja highlands, and in the Vlora region, around Memaliaj, Tepelena and Gjirokastra, as well as around Fier, Librazhd, Lezha, Mallakastra, Bulqiza, Devoll and Laç, says the Global Initiative report on the progress of the drug market and money laundering in the Western Balkans. 

In Albania, a kilogram of cannabis sells for 1200-1400 euros, while a high-quality variety grown indoors costs 1600-2000 euros per kilogram. Cannabis from Albania is trafficked in several directions. Some are transported by boat to Italy (from Vlora, Fieri, Himara or Lezha). One kilogram of cannabis from Albania costs from 1800-2000 euros in Italy. Another traffic route is south through Ohrid and Bitola Monastery in North Macedonia to Greece. 

Cannabis is also trafficked from Albania to Greece by ship, or from the mountains through border crossings in Qafe Bote, Kapshtica and Kakavija. After crossing the border from Albania to Northern Macedonia, the price per kilogram of cannabis increases by 10%, jumping from 2,000 euros to 2,200 euros. Cannabis grown indoors in Albania has a higher concentration and quality of THC (active ingredient, tetrahydrocannabol) that grows abroad. This variety can be sold in Greece for about 2800 euros per kilogram and in Italy for 3200 euros. 

Another cannabis trade channel goes for consumption in the Region or in Turkey or north in the EU. From Albania, drugs are trafficked through Kukes or Prizren, then through Ferizaj and Gjilan to Kosovo. From there, the most common route is to Serbia through the Karacheva and Stublina border crossings, which do not have scanners and customs officers. On the Kosovo side of the border, prices range from around 1,100 euros to 1,300 euros per kilogram and twice as much for the high-quality grown indoors. 

Cannabis is grown legally in North Macedonia for medical use. But part of it is being traded on the black market, thus reducing prices. In early December 2020, two tonnes of cannabis were stolen from the warehouse of a licensed company in the village of Josifovo, Valandovo municipality, North Macedonia. It is assumed that part of this cannabis ended up in Kosovo. 

In another case, four men (two from Skopje and one from Albania and Kosovo) stole 60 kilograms of cannabis from the warehouse of a licensed cannabis producer in the Krushevo region. Cannabis prices in southern Kosovo, around Prizren, are similar to those in northern Macedonia, while those in northern Kosovo are similar to those in Serbia. The low prices in the south of Kosovo are also explained by the fact that the local market is supplied with cannabis from Albania and North Macedonia. Due to transport corridors and drug flow.

(Source: Monitor)