Albania is mentioned as the main country of origin of cannabis in Europe and the sixth in the world for the period 2015-2019, according to the latest global drug report 2021, a publication of UNODC, the global office of the United Nations for crime and drugs.
In the graph published in the report: "The main countries of origin of cannabis resin, according to reports from member states", where 71 countries were surveyed for the period 2015-2019, Albania is mentioned sixth in the world, after Morocco, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Lebanon, Islamic Republic of Iran.
While in Europe, Albania is first, surpassing Spain and the Netherlands. Spain is mentioned eighth in the world, while the Netherlands ninth.
The report mentions Albanian networks as important in cocaine trafficking, where they are implementing the so-called "end to end" business model, an efficient model that excludes third parties and manages the process itself, from beginning to end. "Some of the networks that are being developed, in particular Albanian networks, are also involved in the distribution of cocaine throughout Europe and within some European countries, enabling them to implement a bottom-up business model." A diversification of actors in the cocaine supply chain between Latin America and Europe has facilitated an increase in cocaine availability in Europe, the report notes.
In the graph published in the report, Albanians occupy a significant share of foreign nationals arrested in connection with individual cocaine seizures, estimated by the size of the amount seized. 25% of arrests in the first level of trade originate from Albania.
According to the report, in recent years, there has been a diversification of criminal actors involved in the management of the cocaine supply chain between South America and Europe. In the past, this illicit trade was dominated by a small number of well-established actors and channels, mainly Italian organized crime groups and alliances between Colombian and Spanish groups. Criminal groups such as' Ndrangheta (headquartered in the Italian region of Calabria) exercised a competitive advantage over other European trafficking organizations through their presence in Latin America and direct contacts with suppliers in or near countries where cocaine is produced.
For many years, the Netherlands has been a major actor on the scene for several criminal organizations, including the Netherlands itself, to obtain shipments of cocaine from South America and distribute drugs across Europe. In recent years, however, a number of other European groups have emerged as key players in managing shipments of significant quantities of cocaine to Europe, also establishing their presence and contacts in Latin America. To some extent, this may have been alleviated by the conflicts in Colombia following the demobilization of the FARC-EP. The proliferation of smaller criminal and non-state armed groups, the lack of monolithic organizations controlling the various stages of cocaine production and the trafficking chain, and the increased fragmentation of these activities may have led to the formation of new alliances and supply chains.
In addition to Albanian groups involved in the distribution of cocaine throughout Europe and within several European countries, enabling them to implement a "bottom-up" business model, Serbo-Croatian groups have also come into play. Citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia have also become key players in procuring large quantities of cocaine and organizing transportation and sales to European buyers.