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Summary highlights
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Loan sharking leaves people trapped in debt in Kosovo.
Loan sharking is a serious problem in Kosovo, forcing already desperate people into even more precarious positions. Cars and even homes are put up as collateral and seized, sometimes with the connivance of notaries. The phenomenon has received little attention, including from the authorities. Investigations into the cases are rare, and successful prosecutions even rarer. In this issue we look at the problem and what can be done about it.
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Major alleged drug traffickers from the Western Balkans are embracing crypto.
Recent cases reveal that criminal groups in the Western Balkans are increasingly using cryptocurrencies to launder the proceeds of drug trafficking. Opaque digital wallets and the ease of hiding real identities behind pseudonyms are creating major challenges for law enforcement, compounded by a lack of expertise in navigating blockchain transactions. Law enforcement needs to increase its technical capacity as the problem is likely to get worse.
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Balkan criminal profits are being laundered in Ecuador.
Criminal organizations from the Western Balkans have become notorious for shipping cocaine from Ecuador to Western Europe. Ecuador has also become a hub for money laundering, fuelled by dollarization, lenient sentencing and weak regulation of its banking system. One laundering tactic is to buy companies in the export industry, which enables criminals to integrate into the legitimate local economy, launder their money and acquire strategically valuable assets that facilitate the export of cocaine.
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Women are still under-represented in law enforcement and prosecution in the Western Balkans.
Traditionally, policing in the Western Balkans has been a man’s world. This is slowly changing, driven in part by the EU accession process. However, there is still a lack of women in leadership positions in both the police and prosecution services. We look at some of the reasons for this and what can be done to shatter the glass ceiling.
About this issue
In this issue we look at an under-reported type of crime in the Western Balkans: loan sharking. This type of crime traps users in a vicious downward spiral of debt. Illegal moneylenders offer loans to people who need money quickly or who may not have access to bank loans. Interest rates are high and penalties are even higher. Borrowers sometimes end up losing valuable assets such as cars or even their homes. Some have even committed suicide out of desperation. It is estimated that loan sharking in the Western Balkans generates millions of euros in illegal proceeds every year. In this issue, we focus on the problem in Kosovo, but the phenomenon is also present in other parts of the region. The issue deserves more attention, including greater public awareness of the harms of loan sharking and more training for law enforcement to identify and address the problem. Key facilitators in the private sector, such as notaries, should also be made more aware of their responsibilities rather than continuing to profit from desperate clients.
For some time, we have been monitoring cases involving criminal groups from the Western Balkans, such as the Kavač clan, Veljko Belivuk’s organization and Albanians involved in cocaine trafficking. Recent investigations have shown that these groups sometimes use cryptocurrencies to launder the proceeds of crime. Some groups in the region have also been arrested for illegal crypto mining and cryptocurrency fraud. In the Western Balkans, as in other parts of the world, there is likely to be an arms race between criminals and police in the coming years to see who can adapt faster and smarter to emerging technologies. In this issue we look at some of the challenges for law enforcement and potential solutions.
In previous issues of this Risk Bulletin, we highlighted the activities of criminal groups from the Western Balkans in Ecuador. In this issue we follow the money and look at how some of these groups launder the proceeds of crime in Ecuador. Two cases involving Albanian citizens are illustrative of how these groups operate, including using Ecuadorian fruit companies as fronts to import cocaine. One reason the problem seems to persist is that the risk of being convicted is very low. In early 2025, we will publish a report entitled ‘Cocaine connections: Links between the Western Balkans and South America’, which takes a closer look at the problem.
We try to maintain a strong gender focus in our work. In this issue, we therefore look at the role of women in police and prosecution services in the region. This follows on from our report, ‘Integrity and independence of criminal justice institutions in the Western Balkans: Police and prosecution’, which was published in November. Our research shows that women’s representation in law enforcement in the Western Balkan is often below the EU average, while women’s representation in prosecution services is above the EU average in most countries in the region. However, in both cases, women are under-represented in leadership positions. In order to close this gap, it is essential that the Western Balkan countries set specific recruitment targets for women in the criminal justice system, especially in leadership roles, and promote career progression for qualified women. The flip side of this is that the role of women in organized crime is also underestimated. We will examine that phenomenon in a future Risk Bulletin article.
We welcome your feedback and suggestions for new stories. If you would like to get in touch or if you have an idea for a story, please contact Vanja.Petrovic@globalinitiative.net.