Organised Crime in Albania: The Ugly Side of Capitalism and Democracy

The sudden rise and phenomenal spread of organised crime in Albania is the topic of this article. The following section briefly sketches Albania’s difficult transition to a market-based economy, highlighting the factors that have favoured the rise of organised crime. The development of a public, political and scientific debate about organised crime and the search for a definition are then described. The fourth section discusses the number, size and internal organisation of Albanian criminal groups. The most typical illegal entrepreneurial activities of organised crime are then reviewed. Section six investigates organised crime’s infiltration into the legitimate economy; section seven its capability to corrupt politicians and government officials. Some final remarks follow.