[ALBSA-Info] Zeri i Popullit, 27.02.2001

[Agron Alibali]

Text of unattributed report, "Kociu and Durda: This is
how we would buy politicians", published by Albanian
newspaper Zeri i Popullit on 27 February 

Tirana: The Albanian Prosecutor's Office has
discovered the political ambitions of the criminal
organization of the narcotics trafficking network.
"The Albanian cartel sought to control the upcoming
parliamentary elections with the ultimate goal of
controlling political power through further
operations," said the prosecutors of the international
narcotics case. After numerous investigations, the
prosecutors pursuing the cocaine criminal organization
succeeded in explaining the objectives of the Albanian
super traffickers who were developing long-term
political goals in Albania. The Albanian prosecutors,
in cooperation with the Italian anti-mafia and Western
secret services, discovered their detailed plan only
recently. According to this discovery, the Albanian
narcotics traffickers identified a group of deputy
candidates to finance in future parliamentary
elections. 

In addition, over the next four-year term, this group
of drug barons would make a number of major
investments in various regions of the country to
launder dirty money. Apart from these investments,
they intended to form a political party which would
finance several deputies for their benefit, and also
hold some important offices in the government and
within the local authorities. The investigators and
prosecutors have now discovered the names of some
current politicians who have maintained strong links
for quite some time with the bosses of the cocaine
cartel and who, after receiving a great deal of money
from them, have gone into action to realize the drug
bosses' political ambitions. The task of these
politicians has been to incriminate a larger number of
people and to buy as many candidates as possible in
order to have many of their own men in parliament with
the aim of controlling all of the political life in
parliament. 

The drug barons also strove to ensure political
support. They planned to set up a powerful media
network to support and promote the political and
financial operations of the group led by [Frederik]
Durda and [Arben] Berballa [alleged leaders of
international drugs ring, arrested by Albanian police
in February]. The Albanian drug cartel has long-term
objectives, masterfully interpreting the well-known
schemes of the international mafia which has succeeded
in buying the heads of political organizations and
executives in order to pursue its criminal objectives.
The Durda, Berballa, and [Sokol] Kociu [former senior
police official suspected of involvement in cartel]
group plans to achieve the same objective here by
following the notorious scheme of the Colombian mafia
in setting up its own party. The investigators and
prosecutors have shed light on almost everything -
tasks, objectives, and further political ambitions -
related to the names of persons implicated in this
artfully concocted scheme. 



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