On a locked down November afternoon in 2020, as Europe grappled with Covid 19 restrictions, two Albanian men based in Belgium exchanged a handful of encrypted messages. Deciphered years later from the Sky ECC platform, their words captured a watershed moment in Europe’s cocaine trade. A shipment measured not in …

BIRN reporters trace the rise of Albanian crime gangs to the top of the European cocaine trafficking ladder, from remote parts of Paraguay to European Union ports. Original post Here

Political polarisation and government pressure on the judiciary – sparked by investigations of top politicians – could hinder Albania’s rapid progress towards European Union membership. Original post Here