The cargo ship “Nordloire” set sail from the port of Vila de Conde on the north coast of Brazil on 28 March 2023. Just over two weeks later, the ship arrived at Husnes outside Bergen. There, the police seized 150 kilograms of cocaine, which had been fixed in a cavity under the ship. Five Albanians now risk long prison sentences after the record seizure in April last year. This is one of many large seizures of cocaine that have been smuggled from Brazil by ship to Europe in recent years. Brazil has become one of the most important shipping countries for cocaine from South America, according to Europol. In Hordaland district court, the trial against a woman and four men from Albania has ended. The five were charged under the mafia section. Judgment is expected within a short time. The prosecutor believed that there is evidence that the defendants are an organized criminal group – and that there are masterminds. A sixth person was also charged, but was found dead in prison. The video shows what happened at a boathouse, before the police arrest the defendants in the cocaine case at Husnes. – Criminal groups from the Balkans have become major players in the smuggling of cocaine to Europe. This is what the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) writes in a report. Groups from the Balkans now dominate the entire sales chain from the production of coca leaves in the Andes to street vendors in Paris, London and Berlin. – When we talk about large shipments to the European continent, there is only one group that has hegemony: Criminals from the Balkans, says Brazilian drug detective Ivo Silva to the Reuters news agency. The police in Spain are guarding a record seizure of 22 tonnes of cocaine in 2023. The Albanian mafia is suspected of being behind the smuggling. Photo: AFP Read about the arrests at Husnes: “The General” In recent years, several countries in Europe have made much larger cocaine seizures than the police did at Husnes. In August last year, a 22 meter long sailboat was stopped by the police in the Canary Islands. On board, the police found 2.7 tons of cocaine from Brazil, according to Europol. Several were arrested. Expensive cars, luxury watches and over NOK 5 million in cash were also seized. The action was a collaboration between Europol, Brazil and several European countries. The Serb Slobodan Kostovski was one of those arrested. He was caught in Belgrade after a long search. Kostovski goes by the name “The General”. He is believed to be one of the leaders of a criminal network from the Balkans. Kostovski is said to have smuggled “large amounts” of cocaine into “Europe over a long period of time”, according to an intelligence report Reuters has obtained access to. The news agency has mapped the smuggling to Europe in an extensive journalistic excavation project. Colombia, Peru and Bolivia are the largest producers of cocaine in the world. Neighboring countries Brazil and Ecuador are some of the most important countries for smuggling tons of the narcotic to Europe. The ship that transported cocaine to Husnes set out from Vila do Conde in the north of Brazil. – Posing as businessmen Kostovski lived for several years in Brazil. There, he is said to have made contacts with producers of cocaine in the neighboring countries of Colombia, Bolivia and Peru. The three countries are the world’s largest cocaine producers. The amount of cocaine has increased tremendously in recent years. The borders are porous between Brazil and the three neighboring countries. Tons of the narcotic substance is transported to the east coast of Brazil. That was where the ship with the cocaine seized at Husnes came from. Europol determined in autumn 2022 that Europe has been hit by a “cocaine wave”. In 2021, 315 tonnes of cocaine were seized in Europe, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). That is more than the seizures in the USA, which in the same year were 250 tonnes. The following year, in 2022, seizures increased to a record 323 tonnes in Europe. The Balkan networks come from several countries in the Balkans. – We have seen several examples of members of criminal networks from Albania establishing themselves in Ecuador, Colombia and other countries in South America. There they pretend to be ordinary business people, says Douwe Den Held to news. He is a senior researcher at InSight Crime, who are experts in organized crime in the Americas. – They build relationships with suppliers of cocaine, local business people and bureaucrats. The acquaintances make it possible for them to send large quantities of cocaine to Europe, says Den Held. By buying the cocaine cheaply locally, they can make billions of kroner by selling the illegal drug in Europe. Over 800 kg of cocaine was found in fruit crates at a Bama warehouse in Oslo in March last year. This is the largest cocaine seizure in Norwegian history. Photo: Oslo Police District / Oslo Police District – Norway may become a transit country Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain have been the largest countries for importing drugs into Europe. Now the controls have increased there. – It is quite obvious that they are looking around for other landing sites. That is what Benedicte Bull, professor at the Center for Development and the Environment at the University of Oslo, tells news. Bull is one of Norway’s leading researchers on Latin America and believes that the smugglers are probably now targeting Norway and the rest of Scandinavia to a greater extent. Last year, more than 2.3 tonnes of cocaine were seized in Norway. That is more than the Norwegian Customs Service has seized in the last 10 years combined. Kripos also warned that Norway could become a transit country for drugs in its threat assessment earlier this year. – The quantity that has been seized indicates that parts of it are for further export, says Douwe in InSight Crime to news. He confirms that the smugglers are constantly looking for new routes into Europe. – It is not surprising that they try to smuggle via Sweden or Norway, says Douewe. At the same time, cocaine use is increasing. Norway is in shared third place in cocaine use among young people between the ages of 15 and 34 in Europe, shows a new EU report. Extreme spiral of violence Over 800 kilos of cocaine were found in banana crates at Bama’s warehouse in Oslo in March last year. At the time, it was the largest seizure ever. Within a short time, the police made two more large seizures at the banana importer. The cocaine was probably loaded on board in the city of Guayaquil on the Pacific coast of Ecuador, according to the police. The country is one of the biggest for smuggling cocaine into Europe. A few years ago, Ecuador was one of the most peaceful in Latin America. Now it is one of the world’s most dangerous. Extreme violence, beheadings and murder statistics unparalleled in the country’s history are everyday life. Last autumn, presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was shot and killed at an election campaign meeting. And earlier this year, armed men stormed a TV studio live. Screenshot from the broadcast which will allegedly show armed people breaking into a TV studio in Ecuador Photo: Screenshot from TC Criminal networks from the Balkans have also established themselves in Ecuador in recent years. In addition, the Italian mafia and the extremely brutal Mexican cartels have taken over the country. Everyone was fighting over the enormous values in the cocaine industry of many hundreds of billions of kroner. – When the Balkan criminals and Mexican cartels came to Ecuador, the violence exploded. Both groups are known to be extremely violent, says Benedicte Bull. Criminal gangs also ravaged the country in the past, but the violence rose to a completely different level. – They are linked to international organized crime. Then there will be large-scale corruption and control of local authorities, says Bull. Another murder victim in the port city of Guayaquil, which is considered Ecuador’s murder capital. Photo: AFP The Mexican networks are mainly responsible for the smuggling to the USA, while the Balkan networks are the largest into Europe. Last year, the authorities in Ecuador seized 200 tons of cocaine, according to Insight Crime. Enormous seizures mean that the authorities adopt new methods to get rid of the illegal drug. They now use cocaine as building material for roads and shopping malls. One of the biggest security threats in Europe Mexican and Colombian drug cartels have been run by people like “El Chapo” and Pablo Escobar, known from the TV series Narcos. Criminals from the Balkans operate differently. Small, mobile groups are their recipe. More than 50 cells are behind the smuggling to Europe, writes Reuters. The Balkan cartels use advanced encrypted networks. They are very difficult to reveal. – There is no Godfather, a former intelligence agent from the US drug police, DEA, tells Reuters. Crates of bananas are checked for drugs in a warehouse in Belgium. Belgian police made a record seizure of a total of 109 tonnes of cocaine in 2022. The port city of Antwerp is considered one of the largest import points for drugs into Europe. Photo: AFP One of the reasons why the Balkan cartels have become so big in Europe is local contacts. – Everyone needs local contacts to gain a foothold. The Balkan networks have local contacts in Europe, in Scandinavia and not least in Sweden. They have been strong in the criminal circles there for a long time, says Bull. But other countries have also noticed the activities of the drug cartels. In March, Greek police revealed a group from the Balkans allegedly responsible for more than 60 murders in Europe. Belgium’s Minister of Justice told news last year that he had to live in hiding with his family. His life was threatened by Europe’s new, violent cocaine barons. European Commissioner Ylva Johansson says that murder and extreme violence linked to drugs now challenge terrorism as the biggest security threat in Europe. That could again threaten democracy and the rule of law, according to Johansson. Other content from news abroad: Published 12.06.2024, at 20.17 Updated 12.06.2024, at 8.30 p.m
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