ANALYSIS/ 20 facts: Does Albania have "Mafia Families" or only "gangs and criminal organizations"?

Here's what we learned from the intercepts……. Where does Albanian organized crime differ from the Italian or international mafia? Undoubtedly, the mafia exists everywhere in Albania, but the last interceptions of the 7 main gangs in Albania clearly revealed their weaknesses and proved that they are far below and far from a 100% mafia organization. Ordinary citizens use the term "Mafia" for every gang in their daily slang, but basically there are some essential changes as a legal concept. The 7 Albanian gangs arrested or wanted by SPAK are clearly violent and belong to organized crime, but they can never be called "Mafia families" for these reasons:

– They do not have a centralized structural organization in the form of a pyramid with separate tasks and functions. They have neither Canon, nor Code, nor "principles" on which they act.

- They have no rules and norms on how to organize themselves in time and space, how to communicate, function, join, work and share their profits or shares. In 2022, Ndrageta allocated 2.3 million euros in annual profit to its 1,000 members outside Italy.

- The 7 Albanian gangs do not have exclusivity in the Albanian economy like the foreign Mafia, as happens in Italy, Russia, Mexico, etc. where the Mafia controls monopoly sectors in transport, agriculture, industry, export. In some cases they are called "Agromafia", "Ekomafia", "Telemafia", "Mafiabank". The only exclusivity was gambling for Ervis Martinaj from the Democratic government, but since 2014 it has been dissolved as an activity. Albanian gangs have businesses, but they do not have a monopoly of a sector of the country's economy.

- The 7 Albanian gangs are not owners or shareholders in banks, nor do they have control over the granting of interest in certain cities. Where the mafia exists, most of the city lives on usury money from just one family.

- The 7 gangs do not have any exclusive control in a certain city in terms of the "tribute" that businesses pay more than taxes to the state. In some Italian cities, 200,000 businesses pay the mafia protection "fine". 150,000 businesses were not closed by the tax office, but by non-payment by the mafia.

- The 7 Albanian gangs are totally banal and amateurish in the way they operate. Not only are their hoods not discreet and secretive, but they behave as if they are playboys of erotic films, banally hunting beautiful women on Instagram. They have more mistresses than soldiers or organized and structured staff. Half of them have fallen into traps by their girlfriends. The heads of foreign mafias have large families and a lot of family authority, living together or functioning in a patriarchal manner.

– 7 bandat shqiptare nuk kane qëndrueshmërinë e Familjeve mafioze që 100 vjet trashëgohen dhe kanë lidhje gjaku apo lidhje “parimesh”. 7 bandat shqiptare çdo 7 dite ndryshonin aleancat dhe ja fusnin njeri-tjetrit. 7 kapot e bandave shqiptare jane banal, te pabese, injorante, mashtrues, llafazan, thashethemexhi, halabakë, totalisht provincial dhe kanë dhunën primare jo influencën në shtet dhe popull.

– 7 bandat shqiptare jane të urryera në zonat e tyre dhe jo të pëlqyera apo solidare si Mafia. 7 bandat shqiptare nuk e mbrojnë komunitetin ku veprojnë por e dhunojnë. Mafia italiane apo ajo kolumbiane janë të dashura nga komuniteti sepse ndihmohen apo mbrohen shpesh prej saj.

– Dallimi mes bandave shqiptare dhe bandave italiane është që “halabakët” shqiptarë janë të fortit që ecin me xhama të zinj dhe makina të blinduara, ndërsa kapot e mafias italiane ecin ne këmbë apo biçikletë duke i përshëndetur gjithë qyteti, por duke mos i treguar askush nga banorët policisë se kush është ai “plaku me kollare” që po ha akullore në qendër të qytetit.

– 7 kryebanditët shqiptarë bënin lekë për tu dukur me veshje firmato dhe pushime në Ibiza. Familjet mafioze në botë bëjnë para që të mos duken dhe mos bien në sy.

– 7 bandat shqiptare ranë në rrjetën e policisë sepse të 7 shefat si amatore komunikonin drejtpërdrejt me njëri tjetrin dhe nuk përdornin filtra apo korrierë. Familjet mafioze nuk ka asnjë shans që “krye-familjaret” të komunikojnë me telefona dhe pa kode.

– 7 kryebanditët shqiptarë janë komplet amator në krimet e tyre. Ata urdherojnë vetë, financojnë vetë, organizojnë vetë, ekzekutojnë vetë. Mjafton kaq për të kuptuar sa larg organizimeve mafioze ata janë. Në botë ka me dhjetra organizata mafioze, drejtuesit e të cilave kanë urdhëruar me qindra vrasje por personalisht nuk kanë prekur pistoletë me dorë.

– 7 bandat shqiptare nuk kanë si mafia ndërkombëtare një sistem paralel fiskal apo bankar. Ato vazhdojnë të mbajnë paratë nëpër fuçi djathi apo gropa në bahçen e shtëpisë.

– 7 bandat shqiptare ndryshe nga mafia ndërkombëtare nuk kryejnë atentate politike apo shtetërore. Nga përgjimet nuk rezulton asnjë aksion dhune apo vrasje për kundërshtar politik.

– 7 bandat shqiptare nuk kanë një listë pagesash masive ne shtet ashtu siç kishte Al Capone apo çdo mafie tjetër qe paguajnë mbi 300 politikane, gjyqtare, prokurore, police, doganiere me page fikse çdo muaj. Pagesat qe bëjnë bandat shqiptare kur kane halle nuk quhen financim i organizuar mafioz. Pagesat mujore janë element organizimi dhe jo ryshfeti spontan.

– E fundit 7 bandat shqiptare nuk kanë një sistem organizimi formal si çdo mafie italiane me hierarkinë e urdhrave, vendimeve dhe kompetencave:                   

1-      Shefi

2-       Këshilltari

3-      Zv/shefi

4-      Kapitenët

5-      Ushtarët/ekzekutorët

6-      Financieri

7-      Aksionerët

8-      Anëtarët.

- The 7 banal Albanian gangs have not been able to create their "legislation" that would be mandatory in the fictional cities where they would offer, like the Italian mafia, extra legal protection for the community.

All these facts are relatively debatable, but they mainly prove that organized crime in Albania is violent, brutal, notorious, dangerous, strong, murderous, but fundamentally far from a classic mafia structure. This is good news because with the snapping of a few heads, their gangs break up and are dismantled. They are not inherited in direction, and their structure cannot continue to function. They are born and extinguished or disintegrated with the assassination of the leader. The same story happened with Gaz Muça's first gang, which was dissolved after his murder, and the same continues with "Naim Zyberi", "Haklat", "Zani Çaush" or until today "Ervis Martinaj"... With their disappearance, the gangs also disappear. The opposite would happen if they had created some mafia families. In the mafia, the president dies but the heir and his army continue as a parallel state with all the inherited finances and assets…….