The Albanian Mafia’s Human Trafficking trade

The Rise of the Albanian Mafia Episode 3: How the Albanian mafia runs people smuggling networks that traffic women into the sex trade, Middle Eastern and African migrants into Europe, and Albanian migrants into the UK.
—
Sign up here to gain access to our forthcoming report on Albanian organised crime, to be released at the end of this video series: https://hubs.ly/Q01zB8yY0
—
How Albanian organised crime profits from human trafficking - and how Albanian people smuggling networks help support the Albanian mafia’s wider operations.

Albanian human trafficking is a subject that has been making headlines recently, especially in the UK, where the number of Albanian migrants crossing the channel in small boats increased exponentially in 2022. So who is running these channel crossings? How is the Albanian mafia involved in people smuggling? And why are Albanian migrants coming to the UK in such numbers, and in such a risky manner?

In Episode 3 of our Albanian organised crime video series, we look at the Albanian mafia’s history in the human trafficking trade, from its early reliance on sex trafficking from Albania into Europe as a key criminal industry, to the supporting role it plays in smuggling migrants into Europe along the West Balkan route - and the leading role it plays in people smuggling networks trafficking Albanian migrants across the continent, and into the UK.

We look at the ways in which human trafficking helps support the Albanian mafia’s drug enterprises - especially its marijuana grow houses - by exploiting and entrapping migrants in debt bondage and modern slavery schemes, recruiting workers from migrant camps and hotels, or surreptitiously transporting Albanian criminals across borders; and how some crime agencies are highlighting the ways in which Albanian organised crime networks are exploiting different immigration laws.

Watch the full episode now.

Chapters:
An introduction to Albanian people smuggling: 00:00-01:41
Albanian sex trafficking: 01:41-03:29
Trafficking migrants into the EU: 03:29-09:58
Coming soon: Our in-depth report on Albanian organised crime: 09:58-10:28
Trafficking Albanian migrants: 10:35-12:48
The rise of Albanian small boat crossings into the UK: 12:48-14:50
Albanian criminals and modern slavery: 14:50-18:28
Why are Albanian migrants coming to the UK?: 18:28-22:20
Who is running the channel crossings?: 22:20-24:39
How does human trafficking fit into the Albanian mafia’s operations?: 24:39-26:08