The Albanian mafia or Albanian organized crime (Albanian: Mafia Shqiptare) is the general terms used for criminal

organizations based in Albania or composed of ethnic Albanians. Albanian organized crime is active in Albania, the United States, and the European Union (EU) countries, participating in a diverse range of criminal enterprises including drug trafficking and arms trafficking. In Albania alone, there are over 15 mafia families that control organized crime. According to Wikileaks reports, the Albanian mafia has monopolized various international affiliations from as far east as Israel, to as far west as South America. These reports primarily indicate a strong connection between politicians and various Albanian mafia families. According to the Research Institute for European and American Studies, or RIEAS, Albanian Mafia groups are actually hybrid organizations (various sectors of society), often involved in both [1] criminal and political activities.
Contents
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1 Structure and composition

o o o

1.1 Clan hierarchy 1.2 Membership 1.3 Clans by Region in Albania

2 Rituals and codes of conduct

2.1 Besa

3 International activity

o o o

3.1 Israel 3.2 Australia 3.3 Europe

3.3.1 Belgium 3.3.2 France 3.3.3 Germany 3.3.4 Italy

3.3.4.1 Trading Route 3.3.4.2 Sicilian Mafia 3.3.4.3 Sacra Corona Unita 3.3.4.4 Camorra 3.3.4.5 Ndrangheta

3.3.5 Scandinavia 3.3.6 Spain 3.3.7 Switzerland 3.3.8 United Kingdom

3.4 North America

3.4.1 Canada 3.4.2 United States

3.4.2.1 Rudaj Organization (New York) 3.4.2.2 Potential

3.5 South America

3.5.1 Honduras

4 Prominent Albanian Mafiosi 5 In popular culture

o o o o

5.1 In film 5.2 In television 5.3 In games 5.4 In documentary

6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit]Structure [edit]Clan

and composition

hierarchy

The typical structure of the Albanian Mafia is hierarchical. A family clan is referred to as a "fin" or a [2] "fare." Families contain an executive committee known as a "Bajrak" and select a high-ranking member for each unit. A unit is led by a "Krye" or "Boss" who selects "Kryetar" or "Underbosses" to serve under them. The Kryetar will then choose a "Miq" who acts as a liaison to members and is responsible for [3] coordinating unit activities. In Albania, there is also a group called "Black Eagle" that consists of Alji Haskaj and Arton Toljaj. Aside from "Black Eagle" the activities are also referred to as "Ideali, Skifteri, BIA, Kashtjela, Large Eagles, Black Hand, Eagle's Eye, Black Tigers, Zjarri, Akatana, Siguria Vendit and others. [edit]Membership Deeply reliant on loyalty, honor, and familywith blood relations and marriage being very important most of the Albanian networks seem to be "old-fashioned". Albanian mafia families or clans are usually made up of groups of fewer than 500 members, constituting an extended family, residing all along the Balkan route from Eastern Turkey, to Western Europe, and North America. According to Ioannis Michaletos, the family structure is characterized by a strong inner discipline, which is achieved by means of punitive action for every deviation from internal rules. Punishment ensures fear, and fear guarantees unconditional loyalty to the family. Provisions within the family structure allow official laws to be considered secondary, unimportant, and non-binding. Since mafia families are based on blood relations, the number of clan members are limited, and bonds between them tend to be very strong. As a result, infiltrating into the mafia is almost impossible. Members of other ethnic groups can be accepted only to execute one time or secondary jobs. The Albanian mafia families are organized in 4 6 or more levels; such a structure enables them to preserve the organizational action capability even in case some [4] of its members or groups are captured. [edit]Clans

by Region in Albania

The Albanian Mafia has clans throughout the world. In Albania, there are clans that operate in certain towns or cities. Each region is controlled by different mafia families that oversee international operations. [5] In Shkodra, the Xhakja clan is powerful and has an extensive history of criminal family members. Other prominent Albanian Mafia families operating in and around Albania include; The Kelmendi crime family,

the Osmani family, and the "Banda e Lushnjs" who's boss "Aldo Bare" has since been arrested and prosecuted. The Limani family is also considered a powerful Albanian mafia clan and the Allushi clan is [7] located in the area of Kurcaj, Albania. The Lluca family is powerful, as it is run by Hashim Thai a powerful government leader. The Lluca family is also said to do business with the Selimi family in [8] the Dukadjin area and trace their ancestry to the Dukagjini family clans. [edit]Rituals [edit]Besa The Albanian Mafia uses a term "Besa" as a name for their "Code of Honor." During the recruitment process a member inducted into the Albanian Mafia is required to take an oath. The oath is then considered sacred because it is defined as a Besa. [edit]International [edit]Israel The Israeli government has confirmed its concern that the Albanian mafia has spread its tentacles in the country's banking system. The Israeli intelligence agency has called for a close cooperation between Israel and Albania to combat money laundering. Justice Ministry General Manager, Dr. Rotkopf Guy noted; "this is an important step in international cooperation between our countries to combat money [10] laundering with the force of law and to deepen relations between Israel and other countries.". [edit]Australia Godfather of an Albanian mafia family 'Daut Demaj' gained the attention of the Australian Authorities after [11] creating a drug pipeline through Albanian and Croatian communities in Sydney and Brisbane. He used the alias "Mehmet Ahmeti" according to news and intelligence reports Kadriovski was one of the first [12] financial backers of the KLA. The mafia has been known to integrate into Australian society through the use of teenage members, who come into the country in the guise of university students. In 2007, [13] Kadriovski was believed to be in the vicinity of Philadelphia, PA. [edit]Europe [edit]Belgium In 1989, Belgian Prime Minister Paul Vanden Boeynants was kidnapped in a plot organized by Basri [14] Bajrami. Bajrami was acknowledged by authorities as a member of the Albanian Mafia at that time. The Albanian mafia has deep roots in Belgium, which was recently a topic of a special programme on Belgian RTBF Channel One. Reporters tried to investigate the roots of Albanian organized crime but have complained that it is too hard to penetrate the structure and organization of the Albanian mafia, but they agreed that the Albanian mafia acts on the model of the Italian one, whose crime is part of the "activities of entire families" and which has a clearly defined hierarchy. The Albanian mafia in Brussels has [15] monopoly over activities such as "narcotics and arms deals", according to Belgian sources. [edit]France The Albanian mafia in France is described as having a monopoly over many criminal transactions including arms and drug trafficking. The Albanian mafia has a strong foothold in France, which is a key strategy as other primary transactions are overseen in neighbouring countries by different mafia families [16] and clans. [edit]Germany Albanian mafia families are one of the major criminal organizations in Germany. In particular, they play a crucial role in the drug trade and the red light districts of the country. Although this is well-known to
[9]

[6]

and codes of conduct

activity

German security authorities, such as the (Bundesnachrichtendienst), they are unwilling to undertake an [17] investigation against the Albanian criminal structures in Germany. "Ethnic Albanians" (as the German police officially calls them), who come into Germany typically from Albania or the Republic of Macedonia or Kosovo, created for a very short time in the last decade of the century, a very powerful criminal network, says Manfred Quedzuweit, director of the Police Department for Fighting the Organized Crime in Hamburg. "Here, it could be heard that they are even more [18] dangerous than Cosa Nostra. Albanian "banks" in Germany are a special story. They are used for the transfer of money from Germany, which amounts to a billion of D-marks a year. One of these banks was discovered by accident by the Dsseldorf police while checking a travel agency "Eulinda" owned by the Albanians. "We haven't found a single travel related catalogue or brochure at the agency. The computers were nonfunctional, the printer had never been used. We found that "Eulinda" was a coverup for some other business", said high criminal counselor from Dsseldorf Rainer Bruckert. "Eventually we found out that "Eulinda" had already transferred $150 million to Kosovo for 'humanitarian purposes'", says Bruckert. "Money was being transferred by the couriers in special waist belts with multiple pockets. So, in [18] a single one-way trip, it was possible to carry up to six million D-marks." BND reports state that Albanian Mafia activities are thoroughly spread throughout Germany. One mafia family in Hamburg, for instance, according to BND reports, has over "300 million euros in real estate [19] portfolios". Further, the clan has considerable ties to police, judges and prosecutors in Hamburg. [edit]Italy [edit]Trading Route The Albanian Mafia reportedly uses specific trading routes to transport narcotics and illegal immigrants [citation to Italy. Their Southern Route is via Montenegro and Albania. Access is then gained to Italy by boat.
needed]

[edit]Sicilian Mafia Since the beginning of the 1990s, Italy has been clamping down hard on the Sicilian mafia. According to the deputy director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies(CSIS), at the end of the 1990s the mafia sought to survive this crackdown by forming a "symbiotic" relationship with the Albanian crime families known as fares, who provided the struggling Sicilians a hand in a number of services in their operations across Italy. Today, both Sicilian Mafia groups and the Ndrangheta are believed to have franchised out prostitution, gambling, and drug dealing in territories along the Adriatic coast to the Albanians. One CSIS report even claimed that this partnership had proved so successful that the Sicilian mafia established a headquarters in Vlor, a coastal town in southern Albania at the close of the [20] 1990s. Albanian clandestine immigrants started arriving at Italian ports in 1991. By 1997, the immigration had come under the control of the Albanian and Italian criminal groups, tightening relationships between [21] them [edit]Sacra Corona Unita "The Albanian Mafia seems to have established good working relationships with the Italian Mafia". "On the 27th of July 1999 police in Durres (Albania), with Italian assistance arrested one of the godfathers of the "Sacra Corona Unita", Puglias Italian mafia. This Albanian link seems to confirm that the Sacra Corona Unita and the Albanian mafia are "partners" in Puglia/Italy and delegate several criminal [22] activities". Thus, in many areas of Italy, the market for cannabis, prostitution, and smuggling is run mainly by Albanians. Links to Calabrias mafia, the Ndrangheta, exist in Northern Italy. Several key figures of the Albanian Mafia seem to reside frequently in the Calabrian towns of Perugia, Africo, Plat, and Bovalino (Italy), fiefs of the Ndrangheta. Southern Albanian groups also have good relationships with [22] Sicilys Cosa Nostra.
[22]

[edit]Camorra Roberto Saviano, the Italian writer, an expert on the Neapolitan Camorra in particular and the Italian mafia in general, spoke of the Albanian mafia as a "no longer foreign mafia" to Italy and stressed that the Albanians and Italians have a "brotherly" relationship between each other. Saviano notes that the Camorra from Naples cannot understand the Russian mafia clans, which aren't based on family ties, and [23] feels greater affinity with the Albanian crime families. [edit]Ndrangheta In an Albanian television station Top Channel TV, Saviano went on to say that the Albanian and Italian [24] factions are "one of the same", and that they don't consider each other as foreigners. According to the German Federal Intelligence Service, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), in a leaked report to a Berlin newspaper, states that the 'Ndrangheta "act in close co-operation with Albanian mafia [25] families in moving weapons and narcotics across Europe's porous borders". [edit]Scandinavia "The ethnic Albanian mafia is very powerful and extremely violent," said Kim Kliver, chief investigator for organized crime with the Danish National Police. Law enforcement authorities estimate that different Albanian mafia families may smuggle as much as 440 pounds of heroin a year into Scandinavia at any [26] given time. [edit]Spain According to Spanish Authorities, the Albanian mafia is composed of powerful organized factions. In a report by Spanish Authorities, the factions have infiltrated banks and industrial estates. They are very [27] active in Madrid and Costa Del Sol. [edit]Switzerland Geneva Deputy Public Prosecutors state that the Albanian mafia is one of the most powerful ones among [28] eight identified mafias in the world. The other mafia organizations around the world are the Russian Mafia, Chinese (Triad), Japanese (Yakuza), Italian Mafia, Colombian (drug cartels) organizations, and Mexican (drug cartels) organizations. The Albanian mafia controls the entire network of heroin trafficking [29] in Geneva, Switzerland. The Geneva deputy public prosecutors also added that the Albanian Mafia "is [28] laundering a part of income in Geneva economy, restaurants, bars, real estate and cabarets". [edit]United Kingdom Albanian mafia gangs are believed to be largely behind sex trafficking, immigrants smuggling, as well as [30][31] working with Turkish gangs in Southend-on-Sea, who control the heroin trade in the United Kingdom. Vice squad officers estimate that "Albanians now control more than 75 per cent of the countrys brothels and their operations in Londons Soho alone are worth more than 15 million a year." They are said to be present in every big city in Britain as well as in many smaller ones including Telford and Lancaster, after having fought off rival criminals in turf wars. Associate groups within the organizations will also hide their [32] criminal activities within restaurants, bars, and clubs in an attempt to remain undercover. Albanian gangsters were also involved in the largest cash robbery in British crime history, the 53 million [33] (about US$92.5 million at the time of the robbery) Securitas heist in 2006. According to the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA), Albanian mafia groups have muscled in on the drug and vice trades within the Scottish underworld. The (SCDEA) notes that Albanian mafia groups have established a foothold in arms and drugs trafficking in Scotland. [edit]North

America

[edit]Canada

The Albanian mafia is firmly established in Eastern Canadian cities, such as Toronto and Montreal. Albanians are involved in various white collar activities, such as real estate andhealth care fraud. Furthermore, they are engaged in cross-border activity between the United States and Canada, which [34] includes drug smuggling and money laundering. A Canadian Security Intelligence Service report noted that although organized crime in Canada has shifted to more multi-ethnic and loosely based structures, the term "mafia" is used only to identify the "big three," which have hierarchical structures that are ethnically, racially, and culturally homogeneous: the [35] Italian, Albanian, and Russian mafias. [edit]United States The Albanian mafia in the United States has been thought to greatly increase their dominant power and is one of the most violent criminal organizations in operationparticularly with their strong connections in [36] the European Union. In the United States, Albanian gangs started to be active in the mid-80s, mostly participating in low-level crimes, such as burglaries and robberies. Later, they would become affiliated with Cosa Nostra crime families before eventually growing strong enough to operate their own organizations under the Iliazi family [37] name. During investigations conducted by FBI experts in the city of New York and surrounding areas against the Albanian mafia, it was noted that the Albanian mafia was too widespead and too secretive to penetrate. Furthermore, although there have been a number of operations performed by the FBI to destroy organized crime such as Italian and Russianfactions, the Albanian mafia continues to be widespread in [38] New York in a relatively high number. In 2011, a New York-based Albanian-American mob was successfully convicted by the New York US attorney's office. It was coordinated by the International Narcotics Strike Force (made up of the DEA, NYPD, ICE/HSI, New York State Police, IRS, and U.S. Marshals). The American-Albanian mob was described as having "hundreds of associated members, workers, and customers spanning three continents" and with trafficking drugs from Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela. They were also in close cooperation with other mafia families based in the European Union. According to F.B.I site, they do not yet demonstrate the established criminal sophistication of La Cosa [39] Nostra. [edit]Rudaj Organization (New York) Main article: Rudaj Organization One of the most famous Albanian criminal organization was the Rudaj Organization. In October 2004, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested 22 men who worked for it. Among them was Alex Rudaj, the leader of the organization, whose arrest effectively ended the workings of the Rudaj. The arrests were made shortly after the men entered the territory of the Lucchese crime family in Astoria, Queens, New York, and supposedly beat up two members of the Lucchese family. The name Rudaj comes from the head of the organization. According to The New York Times published on January 2006, "Beginning in the 1990s, the Corporation, led by a man named Alex Rudaj, established ties with established organized crime figures including members of the Gambino crime family, the authorities say. Then, through negotiations or in armed showdowns, the Albanians struck out on their own, daring to battle the Lucchese and Gambino families for territory in Queens, the Bronx and [40] Westchester County, prosecutors say.". In 2001, Albanian mobsters stormed a Gambino hangout in Astoria, Queens, sending a brazen message to the family. The club, called Soccer Fever, was now theirs. The seven men who invaded the dimly lit

basement club tore the joint apart, shot off handguns and beat the club manager bloody, prosecutors say. [41] It was a bold move, and, prior to August 2001 unthinkable. Gambino leader Arnold Squitieri had had enough and wanted a talk with these rogue mobsters. The "sit down" took place at a gas station in a rest area near the New Jerseyturnpike. Squitieri did not come alone; twenty armed Gambino mobsters accompanied their boss. Alex Rudaj on the other hand had only managed to bring six members of his crew. According to undercover FBI agent Joaquin Garcia, who infiltrated the Gambino crime family during this period, Squitieri told Rudaj that the fun was over and that they should stop expanding their operations. The Albanians and Gambinos then pulled out their weapons. Knowing they were outnumbered, the Albanians threatened to blow up the gas station with all of them in [42] it. This ended the discussion, and both groups pulled back. By 2006, all the main players involved in this "sit down" were in prison. Rudaj and his Sixth Family had been picked off the street in October 2004 and charged with a variety of racketeering and gambling charges. After a trial, Rudaj and his main lieutenants were all found guilty. In 2006, Rudaj, at that time 38 years old, was sentenced to 27 years in prison. His rival Arnold Squitieri was convicted in an unrelated [42] racketeering case and was sent to prison for seven years. "What we have here might be considered a sixth crime family", after the five Mafia organizations Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchesesaid Fred Snelling, head of the FBI's criminal [43] division in New York. [edit]Potential Speaking anonymously for Philadelphia's City Paper, a member of the "Kielbasa Posse", an ethnic Polish mob group, declared in 2002 that Poles are willing to do business with "just about anybody. Dominicans. Blacks. Italians. Asian street gangs. Russians. But they won't go near the Albanian mob. The Albanians [44] are too violent and too unpredictable." The Polish mob has told its associates that the Albanians are like the early Sicilian mafiaclannish, [44] secretive, hypersensitive to any kind of insult, and too quick to use violence for the sake of vengeance. [edit]South

America

[edit]Honduras Reliable information from Honduras indicates formidable Albanian mafia activity. According to WikiLeaks reports, Albanian mafia groups are affiliated with various South American politicians, and have set in motion to move their hidden assets in various banks. The Wikileaks report goes on to state that Albanian Mafia groups are preying heavily in Central America, where all roads lead to Colombian cocaine. Albanian mafia groups are laundering money through banks in Honduras and investing a large [45] amount in construction projects to further gain influence in South America. [edit]Prominent

Albanian Mafiosi

Imer Dalipi: Arrested in 1980 in Macedonia. Known as Imer gangster who qualified as the largest criminal Albanian time. Above him was a packed file criminal. Alex Rudaj: The boss of the Albanian Mafia's Rudaj Organization based in the New York City area. Zef Mustafa: associate to the Gambino family based in New York. He pled guilty to money [46] laundering. Gjergj Lai: Of some informations we have, Gjergj Lai is a leader of many Albanian mafia organisations, which they are not familiar in public. This group of Gjergj, does many things not in public, they are active in Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Turkey, Italy, Germany, France, Croatia etc. Xhevedet "Joe" Lika: Xhevdet Lika was an American-Albanian kingpin who was notorious within the New York criminal underworld. In the Book Contract Killer by Hoffman and Headley, it was noted

that even though his is not a name of household familiarity in the American upperworld like "Al Capone" or "John Gotti," Xhevedet "Joe" Lika was known in the international underworld. The book also noted; ""He didn't like Italians and they left him alone because he was so violent. Like Japanese kamikazes, his heavy hitter mobsters would go after John Gotti, Paul Castellano, or even President Reagan, if Lika gave the word. There was no way to stop people like that, and Mafiosi [47] knew it"". Princ Dobroshi, One of the biggest heroin kingpins in Europe. Alfred Shkurti (also known as Aldo Bare): The boss of one of the most notorious criminal syndicates in Albania known as the Banda e Lushnjs (the Lushnja Gang). According to Albanian authorities, Banda e Lushnjs is one of the most notorious organized crime group based in Lushnja, Alb ania [48] which has international operations. According to Albanian authorities,Banda e Lushnjs, under [48] Aldo Bare "Leads one of the most important international drug trafficking rings"' Ismail Lika: According to the FBI, Ismail Lika was an Albanian mobster active in New York City in the 1980s. Dubbed the "King of the New York drug underworld", Ismail Lika issued a contract on Rudy Giuliani's prosecutors in 1985. Caught with at least $125 million in heroin, Lika issued a $400,000 contract on the prosecutor Alan Cohen and the detective Jack Delemore, both placed under [49] protective custody. Lul Berisha: Leader of a notorious clan based in Durrs, Albania. Known as "Banda e Lul Berishes", the clan, by its complex structure is engaged in moving drug and arms trafficking and other criminal activities throughout Europe. According to German and Albanian authorities, the clans international [50] drug and arms trafficking spans to Turkey,Bulgaria, Italy, and Germany. Lulzim Krasniqi: Former Albanian Mafia Kingpin based in Zagreb, Croatia. According to the Croatian [24] newspaper (Jutarnji List"), Krasniqi led a powerful Mafia Clan with international operations. Naser Xhelili: Coined by Swedish Authorities as the "Albanian Connection" in Sweden, the Xhelili [24] clan operations include drugs and arms trafficking in and around Sweden. Osmani Brothers: According to the German Federal Intelligence Service (Bundesnachrichtendienst) the Osmani brothers as the "most important figures of organized crime in Hamburg and other cities in [51] Germany" Myfit (Mike) Dika Former drug kingpin of the Balkan Criminal Enterprises,; an international criminal [52] organization which spanned from Canada, the United States, to Europe. Kapllan Murat: Belgium's most notorious mobster. He was one of the masterminds behind the kidnapping of former Belgian Prime Minister Paul Vanden Boeynants in 1989. Three days later, the criminals published a note in the leading Brussels newspaper Le Soir, demanding 30 million Belgian francs in ransom. Paul Vanden Boeynants was released (physically unharmed) a month later, on 13 [53] February, when an undisclosed ransom was paid to the perpetrators. Gjavit thaqi: Leader of the "Thaci Organization" which is a New York City-based organized crime syndicate. The Thaci Organization controls drug distribution cells in all five boroughs of New York City and Albany. According to the FBI, the Thaci Organization has international operations in [54] Canada, the United States, and Europe. John Alite a.k.a. "Johnny Alletto" (born September 30, 1962) is a New York City based Albanian mobster. A former member of the Gambino crime family he was a friend and crew leader for John A. Gotti in the 1980s and 1990s. Following extradition from Brazil in 2006, he was convicted in Tampa, FL of several counts of murder conspiracy, racketeering and other charges stemming from allegedly heading a unit of the Gambino organization in Florida and was sentenced in 2011 to 10 years in prison (of which he had already served six). He was a prosecution witness against former associates, including Gotti and Charles Carneglia, in wide-ranging racketeering trials. While a part of the Gambino organization, because his family is Albanian, not Italian, Alite could not become a made member of the organization.

Naser Kelmendi: The leader of a Balkan Criminal Empire, as coined by Bosnian authorities. According to a report presented by Interpol, the Kelmendi crime family heads one of the most powerful organized criminal organizations not only in BiH, but in the whole region. The Kelmendi organization has been involved in drug and cigarette trafficking, money laundering and loan sharking.According to the Interpol report, the organization's influence reaches to Montenegro, Kosovo, Republic of Macedonia, Croatia, Serbia, Germanyand [55] the US. Furthermore, according to the CIA Kalmendi leads one of the strongest ethnic Albanian criminal families in the Balkans. Kelmendis organization is believed to traffic in cocaine and heroin, [56] as well as acetic anhydride, a basic ingredient in heroin production. Luan Plakici - "Vice King" of the Albanian Mafia in the UK who was jailed for 10 years for trafficking [57] women after promising them good jobs. Adrian Hoxhallari is the Boss of the Albanian Mafia in Pogradec Kujtim "Timmy" Lika, the "Kingpin" of New York & New Jersey's Albanian Mafia was featured [58] on Americas Most Wanted and apprehended in May 2012. Baki Sadiki the head of the Albanian Mafia in Slovakia
[59]

Plaurent "Lenti" Dervishaj is a prominent Albanian Mafia member that is being pursued by the FBI in The United States. He is presently listed on the FBI "Most Wanted" listwhich is known to provide [60][61] financial rewards to individuals who assist in their capture. Dukagjin "Duke" Nikollaj is an Albanian Mafia member that is listed on the FBI Most wanted list for [62] various crimes.

[edit]In [edit]In

popular culture
film

An Albanian criminal organization in Paris is responsible for the kidnapping of Liam Neeson's character's daughter in the 2009 film Taken. Taken 2: In Istanbul, the retired CIA operative Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) and his wife are taken hostage by the Albanian Mafia. Drive: An American action-drama heist film which centers around a stunt performer in a heist gone wrong who gets entangled with an Albanian mafioso who is owed protection money. "Cook", the Albanian mafioso, is played by the Albanian-American actor James Biberi. Le Chiffre is the main villain of the 2006 James Bond film, Casino Royale, portrayed by Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen. Believed by MI6 to be Albanian, Le Chiffre is a banker to the world's terrorist organizations. In the French movie The Nest the plot centers around an Albanian mob boss in police custody being escorted to the Hague. Albanian mobsters Rexho and Luan feature in the Danish crime film Pusher III. Dossier K, a Belgian crime thriller, portrays the Albanian mafia in Belgium. In We Own the Night, a final drug transaction is made with the Albanian mafia. In the movie In With Thieves, a blood diamond deal goes wrong which throws Albanian mafioso into chaos in the criminal underworld.

[edit]In

television

In the Law and Order: Criminal Intent episode "Blasters" (Season 6, Episode 9) two former child stars involved in bootlegging ring are being hunted down by the Albanian mob. The story arc "The Slavers" of the adult-oriented Marvel comic The Punisher: Frank Castle deals with Albanian criminals engaged in human trafficking. In the American TV show No Ordinary Family episode "No-Ordinary Mobster" deals with the main character attempting to stop violent Albanian mobsters.

In the American Hit TV drama In Plain Sight episode "Aguna Matatala", United States Marshal Marry Shannon, projects an orthodox Jew in witness protection from Albanian mobsters. Investigation Discovery's "Discovery Times" episode
[63]

[edit]In

games

The videogame Grand Theft Auto IV features the "Petrela gang" a small crew of Albanian shylocks and goods smugglers. The only known members are Dardan Petrela, Kalem Vulaj, and Bledar Morina. Later in the game, Albanian gangs appear working as muscle for other organizations, such as the Cosa Nostra or the Bratva. In Liberty City the Albanian mob holds a stronghold in the Little Bay section of Bohan

[edit]In

documentary

Crime Invasion:Britain New underwold - episode Albania

[edit]See

also

Alex Rudaj Ismail Lika

[edit]References