Albanian gangs set up hundreds of spy cameras to keep ahead of police

Albanian police dismantled more than 500 illegal surveillance cameras allegedly set up by gangs to monitor citizens and law enforcement, in a scandal that highlights the power of criminal networks in the small Balkan nation.

The cameras, about half of which were mounted in the capital Tirana, were detected during an investigation prompted by an explosive device detonated near the home of a police officer in the northern Albanian city of Shkodra. The influence of criminal gangs has been cited among the main reasons for Albanians to leave their country and move to other European nations, including the UK.

“The police dismantled . . . cameras placed on electric poles, in the street, to gather information for criminal purposes,” Albanian police said in a statement on Tuesday. “The cameras installed by persons or criminal groups were also intended to obtain information about the movements of the police.”

Gangs used the remotely controlled cameras to monitor rivals and police movements to get ahead of law enforcement, according to a report by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, which quoted locals testifying to the “rackets, threats and fear” of gangs they have to live with every day.

Prime Minister Edi Rama said the police operation was “a bit like a Catch-22 situation as we get accused for not taking action and we also get accused when we do take action”.

“The fact that the police acted on this issue, that has been a problem for decades, means that the government is keen and focused on fighting organised crime,” Rama said. He added that not all of the cameras were connected to criminal networks, and that “some were for individual use, albeit not legal”.

Former foreign and justice minister Aldo Bumçi said criminal groups had built a global network of narcotics trafficking and were laundering money in Tirana.

Albanian drug cartels employ tens of thousands of families in the country to grow marijuana, Bumçi said, using the money, the connections and ties to western Europe to operate a global heroin and cocaine smuggling network as well.

Rama disputed that account, saying that “cannabis cultivation has gone drastically down and successful police operations in co-operation with international partners . . . speak of increasing effectiveness in combating international as well as domestic crime”.

Last year the European Commission criticised Albania, an EU candidate, for a proposed law offering amnesty for deposits of up to €2mn into Albanian banks without penalties, taxing the transfers at a rate of up to 10 per cent.

A US state department report released last year said Tirana must continue justice reform efforts, tighten anti-money laundering regulations and oversight, and work to erode the influence of organised crime.

“Violent crime in Albania is often associated with organised crime,” it said. “Judges, prosecutors, police and journalists have been subject to intimidation.”