Trafficking in cocaine and heroin, human beings, extortion. Never has the Albanian mafia had such an impact on criminal networks in Belgium. In his book, code Kanun, which will be released in October, the examining magistrate Michel Claise details the way in which the Albanian clans have control over a good deal of trafficking. Proof of this quasi-monopolistic position is the Albanian mafia based in Brussels which orchestrated the trafficking of a ton of cocaine seized in a private jet coming from Brazil at Zaventem airport last January.
The idea of writing a book came to him during a trip to Albania, a country that fascinated him. “With the opening of the borders and the arrival of capitalism, many Albanians went into exile to make their fortune elsewhere, in a completely legal way. And then, a certain fringe of the mafia began to operate in Belgium from the 1960s”, explains Michel Claise. “About 60,000 Albanians live in Belgium today. Of course, not everyone is a crook, but those who engage in illegal practices show extreme violence and a lot of cold blood. They have no scruples when operating blood feuds.”
Cocaine and cannabis trafficking in Belgium: the Albanian mafia is gaining momentum
”During my trip, I left with books by the author Ismaël Kadaré, one of the world’s great writers, who tells his country very well. In his book “Broken April”, it recounts something terribly topical that we don’t understand back home, whose activity we don’t perceive. It is the Kanun, namely the Albanian code of honor, hence the title of my book”, he continues. “It’s exciting to see how this parallel world exists in our society. We rub shoulders with it without realizing it while it has terrible economic consequences.”
Why the fight against cocaine trafficking in the port of Antwerp is a failure
Concretely, the Kanun is the code of honor that governs the whole of society in northern Albania. “These are the codes that organize the vendetta, the life in common, the relationship with women. But also the fact that blood crimes must always be punished with blood. It is extraordinarily codified. The fact of never going back on the given word and forcing people in the family to kill those who have killed. It is an obligation”, continues Michel Claise. “The consequences of Kanun are regularly felt in Belgium. In 2019, there was a settling of accounts in Molenbeek on drug trafficking funds following a conflict with the Mocro Mafia. A guy who took 12 bullets. This is the starting point of my book.
Throughout his work, the investigating judge reviews the different types of crime specific to the Albanian mafia. “In addition to human trafficking and waste trafficking, there is of course the trafficking of heroin, cocaine and cannabis. The Balkans have always been a transit point for opium from China and Afghanistan. There is a strong acquaintance between the Albanian community and the big South American mobsters. El Chapo, for example, worked with the Albanians”he continues.
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It also describes the penetration of the Albanian mafia into the port of Antwerp where tons of cocaine transit. “What interests me is money laundering. It is done in a very classic way, by truck transfers to Albania where companies are created. There is no money laundering control. This laundering is also facilitated by corruption towards police and customs officers who close their eyes in exchange for staggering amounts”, adds Michel Claise. “The influence of the Albanian mafia on criminal networks in Belgium has continued to grow in recent years.”
The book, his 14th, should be released in October.
