Drug traffickers are increasingly using cryptocurrency payments while simultaneously using the Dark Web for their activities in an attempt to lose track.
The National Strategy for Organized Crime 2026-2030 highlights that technological advancement, along with the benefits it brings when used for positive aspects, also offers more sophisticated methods for those who use it for illegal activities.
"Recently, an increasing trend has been identified in the use of cryptocurrencies for payments in the narcotics market, thus enabling the concealment of financial traces as well as the use of the DarkWeb network to distribute narcotics, thus preserving the anonymity of the distributors of these substances," the strategy states.
The government also underlines that Albania is a transit country for heroin and cocaine and the quantities destined for the domestic market are small. The aim is to send it to EU countries.
"Regarding the trafficking of narcotics, with the exception of cannabis, where Albania is the country of origin, in other categories of narcotics, mentioning here heroin and cocaine, Albania results as a transit country. The quantities of narcotics destined for the domestic market are small and the majority transit through the territory of Albania, with destination EU countries.
In recent years, cocaine trafficking activity has expanded, produced in South American countries (Colombia, Ecuador and Brazil), transported by sea to the Durrës Sea Port and then on to European Union countries," the strategy states.
The strategy also brings to attention the forms in which these phenomena can be combated, emphasizing the training of officers, cooperation with international agencies to exchange information, and increasing capacities to strike criminal networks./ Monitor
