December 2, 2024
Six Albanians arrested in Antwerp cocaine investigation
Belgian police arrested six Albanians on Thursday in an ongoing criminal investigation into drugs on suspicion of involvement in an organization that would be involved in the import and trade of cocaine via the port of Antwerp. A cocaine laundry was found in a building in the port city.

The Antwerp public prosecutor's office reported on Monday that the investigation started in 2023, when the police received information about a group of Albanians who were supposedly importing cocaine from a building in the Somersstraat in Antwerp via the port of Antwerp. During the investigation, signals emerged that a cocaine laundry was operating in the building in question, where cocaine was also being re-pressed and repackaged. From there, the cocaine was supposedly being traded throughout Europe.

Raids
On Thursday, five house searches were carried out in Antwerp, Berchem and Borgerhout on the orders of the investigating judge. During the raid on Somersstraat, chemicals, a cocaine press, logos and packaging material were found.

Six men between the ages of 22 and 57 were brought before the investigating judge after questioning. The six were placed under arrest warrant and are in custody. They will appear before the council chamber on Tuesday. The judicial investigation is continuing.

https://www.crimesite.nl/zes-albanezen-opgepakt-in-antwerps-cocaineonderzoek/

How is the Albanians status in Ecuador now?

Saw a an article of them battling Mexican cartels in 2022, could that be true?

https://cuencahighlife.com/albanian...-recruits-boys-as-young-as-10-as-hitmen/

They work together prominent members have ties to the El Mayo faction.

Italy arrests drug traffickers who used migrants as couriers, police say

ROME, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Twenty-seven people have been arrested in a pan-European raid against two drug trafficking groups, one of which used migrants as couriers, Italy's Carabinieri police said on Wednesday.

The suspects were taken in for drug offences in Italy, Albania and Spain, the Carabinieri said, adding that 20 of them were remanded in custody and seven placed under house arrest.

One group, led by Nigerians, used young Nigerian asylum seekers or refugees to transport marijuana across Italy and Europe, the police statement said.

A long-distance bus terminal near Rome's Tiburtina train station was "used as a national and international sorting centre for drug trafficking", it added.

The couriers had been recruited from a migrant reception centre on the outskirts of Rome used as a depot for drugs.

The second group, led by Albanians, was said to import marijuana to Italy, using fast boats across the Adriatic, to sell it on to Nigerian traffickers.

Some of the Albanian suspects were also charged with aggravated extortion against Nigerian buyers who were late with their drug payments, police said.