A Cocaine Story

AIM Tirana, March 15, 2001

The Columbia drug cartels recently failed in an attempt to turn Albania into a distribution point for cocaine between the Eastern and Western Europe. The operation, code-named "Journey Italia," which was simultaneously organized in seven countries broke up the international drug trade which started in Latin America and had Albania as it second last stop. An investigation has so far shown that Albanian drug dealers in Tirana managed thousands of kilograms of narcotics destined for the Italian and Balkan markets. The Albanian "cocaine dream" ended abruptly on Feb. 2, and so far, the initial several weeks of investigation have revealed a plan prepared by the Colombian drug cartels to cover a new territory. This was supposed to enable them to supply Western Europe not only from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, but from the Adriatic coast as well.

The big game involving the deadly trade began several years ago. Former senior Albanian government officials are also suspected of complicity. The former head of the judiciary police in the country, Sokol Kocui, has been put behind bars, and 25 opposition MPs demanded in the Parliament that Chief Prosecutor Arben Rakipi be dismissed.

The Spider's Web

One Frederik Durda has been charged as the ringleader. Durda, 42, fled Albania for the U.S. in 1976, during the communist dictatorship in Albania. Almost immediately, however, in the 1980s, he was jailed there for possession and distribution of drugs. After the fall of communism, Durda returned to Albania.

According to the investigation, in mid-1990s Durda returned to his old trade. Using his former ties in the U.S. he began spinning his web in Albania. In 1996-1997, he established contact with certain well-known dealers in Tirana. Later on, he managed to include in his plans the head of the general prosecution judiciary police. Initially, a lumber export-import company served as his cover. Later, he moved into a luxurious apartment in a plush Tirana district and rented a mansion in Athens which used to belong to a Russian mobster who was assassinated.

The first probe into his business deals was launched in 1998, at a time when he frequently traveled outside the country, particularly to Greece, whereas his brother began traveling to Italy. This is when, using the assumed name, Durda made his initial contact with Colombian drug lords. His first arrival in Medellin -- a town in which the legend of Pablo Escobar still lives -- drew the attention of secret services and international anti-drug agencies. Investigators already have pictures of Durda riding in private helicopters, and near mansions and pure-bred horses in Columbia. On the other hand, starting June 19, 1999, four Colombians successively paid visits to Albania.

"Initially, Frederik Durda and his brother were on a list of ordinary suspects. However, it all became more serious once confirmation arrived from Italy that they were part of a narcotics cartel originating directly in Columbia," said prosecution spokesman Ardian Visha. According to evidence procured by the investigators, Durda established contact with the heads of one of the strongest cocaine clans in Columbia. He promised he would manage the tons of narcotics arriving from Columbia in Venezuela, and thence in Spain.

Interpol knows that the Spanish and Dutch coasts are usual destinations of Latin American drugs. Durda, however, took it upon himself to add Albania as a new narcotics distribution center. He took concrete steps to ensure his part of the operation. His ship, the Privilege, was planned to sail for Spain and take over a shipment of bitumen. Meanwhile the Colombian shipment arrived to Spain on ships controlled by Spanish organized crime circles and were to be transferred to the Albanian ship flying a Maltese flag and hidden in the ship's secret compartments. The Privilege was then to set sail for Valona, Albania, where the easier part of the operation, as expected, was to be launched. The arrested chief of the judiciary police, Sokol Kociu, used to be a police chief in that area. The liquid cocaine was there to be reloaded into tanker trucks, getting forged documents identifying the cargo as cement. A part of it was supposed to be stored in warehouses in Albania, and the rest handed over to the Italian Mafia, via fast ships equipped with radars, owned by Albanian criminals. The stored quantities of cocaine were in turn to travel via Balkan routes in trucks. Italian agents fighting the Mafia had warned as early as last summer that "a network has been created by four or five Albanian families, which have established close relations with Colombian drug traders to import large quantities of cocaine via Albanian go-between in New York, to transport them in rubber boats to European markets through the Channel of Otranto, and with trucks through the Balkans."

The Bust

According to Chief Prosecutor Arben Rakipi, the first such signals arrived last August. In a ship allegedly transporting construction material in Venezuela six tons of cocaine destined for Europe were discovered. In the Netherlands, two additional tons were blocked. This was the moment when international agents discovered the network. They collected evidence showing that the cargo was supposed to reach Albania as its next to last destination. Investigation has shown that the entire operation was discovered by the CIA, which in turn informed the agents in Europe.

Meanwhile, Durda's ship set sail for Europe, ready to load "construction material." It was under close surveillance throughout its journey. Although it spent quite some time in Spanish waters, the cargo from Columbia did not arrive. The crew was ordered to return. They began returning but the ship was intercepted by Spanish forces which searched it, discovered the compartments, and although no other suspicious signs were discovered it was ordered back to Spain where it was docked.

In September, 2000, an Italian deputy prosecutor in the anti-Mafia campaign, Francesco Mandoia, informed Albanian Chief Prosecutor Rakipi of the operation and of details of the Albanian network. In the following six months the network was fully monitored. In this period 10,000 phone calls were registered. On Feb. 2, in seven countries a total of 21 persons believed to be the key links in the international cocaine trade between Columbia and Albania were simultaneously arrested. Among them were Frederik Durda and his brother. Several days later the arrest of the judiciary police head followed, together with a couple of other less significant people.

The End of an Experiment

The first four-ton shipment was expected to bring in about US$400 million, says one of a dozen local experts researching the issue of organized crime. The other suspects that were arrested will be prosecuted in their respective countries.

>From telephone conversations between the drug smugglers it was learned that the Albanians were supposed to purchase the drugs at the price of US$40,000 per kilogram. Meanwhile, Durda's men were selling it to other groups controlled by four or five Albanian families from organized crime circles. The price was eventually expected to reach US$100,000 per kilogram.

Maybe Albanian Interior Minister Ilir Gjona had this price in mind when he said that the Albanian drug traders were about to put in circulation quantities supposed to yield about US$400 million in a year. "It can only be imagined what a group of people with such income could do," Gjoni said.

Given that Albania's budget is slightly over one billion U.S. dollars, it stands to reason that people having at their disposal almost a half of that sum would wield incredible power. The consequences would truly be unforeseeable. The investigation so far has shown that their plans were long-range, and involved political goals and the news media.

Alfred Peza

(AIM)