Albanian smuggling: Adriatic crossing

Date: 13/03/04

Unstoppable people- and drug-trafficking in the Balkans

THE dusty port of Vlora, in southern Albania, is the starting-point for one of the world's busiest illegal-immigration routes. The 41 miles (65km) to Italy takes only two hours in a fast boat. Gazmend, a waiter, recalls that, until the government cracked down last year, speedboats would wait in the harbour like taxis. The boats are hidden now - but the trafficking continues, sometimes with tragic results. One night in early January an inflatable carrying over 30 people, mostly illegals, put out in high seas. The boat, designed for 6-8 people, was soon swamped. Despite rescue efforts by the Albanian, Italian and Greek navies, 21 people died of exposure.

Desperate people from the Balkans and as far afield as Iraq and Afghanistan pay as much as €1,300-1,500 ($1,700-1,950) to make the crossing. Other unlucky passengers are women being trafficked into prostitution. The Italian and Albanian navies co-operate, but it is hard to stop a boat at sea. Commander Ilir Manco of the Vlora naval district says that the smugglers like to cross in rough seas at night. “When the seas are up, the boats are invisible to radar and the naked eye. Even if the boats are spotted, they move at between 35 and 70 knots, far faster than most of our boats, and sometimes they can outrun helicopters,” he explains. He laments that, although the Americans and Italians have donated some boats, they are often faulty or lack spare parts. On some, for example, the rudders have never worked.

Marco Nicovic, a former chief of Belgrade's police, says that Albanian traffickers have close links with Turkey and Kosovo, as well as with the diaspora in western Europe and America. They control a high-quality smuggling channel for people, heroin and cigarettes. He notes that they work with Serbs, Montenegrins and even Russians; in crime, politics and history count less than profit.

Tougher security may not stem the tide. Albania is Europe's poorest country. Erion Veliaj, leader of a civic-action group, notes that 750,000 Albanians (almost a quarter of the total) live below the poverty line; some 15% are officially unemployed; only 18% have uninterrupted electricity; just one in six households has running water. A rash of new apartment buildings in Vlora points to the rich pickings made by the traffickers. The long slog to prosperity is the only sure way of putting a stop to them.

Feature looks at people and drug smuggling from Albania into EU countries, particularly Italy.

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