The OSCE Presence in Albania, with support from the Organization’s Transnational Threats Department/Strategic Police Matters Unit and the U.S. Department of Justice’s ICITAP program, convened a two-day regional workshop examining how illicit drug markets fuel violent crime across the Western Balkans.
Participants included senior officials from Albania’s Special Structure Against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK), the National Bureau of Investigation (BKH), and the Albanian State Police, alongside police representatives from Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and several EU member states. Sessions focused on current trends in drug trafficking and associated threats such as money laundering, contract killings, and extortion.
Albanian and international officials—among them SPAK Chief Altin Dumani, OSCE Ambassador Michel Tarran, and U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Nancy VanHorn—underscored the cross-border nature of the threat and called for faster information exchange and joint operational work.
According to the OSCE, the workshop’s objective was to strengthen regional cooperation and improve joint criminal investigations so as to more effectively disrupt both local and transnational drug networks active in the region. The forum also served as a platform to share investigative techniques and good practices among participating services.
