In Focus delivers deeper coverage of the political, cultural, and ideological issues shaping America. Published daily by senior writers and experts, these in-depth pieces go beyond the headlines to give readers the full picture. You can find our full list of In Focus pieces here.
Why is the Trump administration apparently OK with the leader of a NATO ally acting as a money laundering partner of Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel?
President Donald Trump has made countering the flow of illegal drugs into the United States a top priority of his second term. But Trump must recognize that the global drug trafficking empire involves nominal American allies as well as obvious foes such as Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro.
PETE HEGSETH SHOULD DEMOTE FRANKLIN THE TURTLE
Much attention is being given to Trump’s escalating pressure on Maduro over his facilitation of massive drug smuggling to the U.S. And while it would be a mistake for Trump to militarily remove Maduro from power, Trump has the authority, and is right, to use military force against drug cartels operating inside and out of Venezuela. Still, if he’s serious about cracking down on the cartels, Trump will need to significantly increase the pressure on one particular NATO ally: Albania.
Under Prime Minister Edi Rama, Albania is today the unquestioned capital of drug trafficking in Europe. The Albanian mafia leverages access to Europe’s largest ports and controls some of the continent’s most lucrative drug markets, such as that of London. It has a special focus on cocaine trafficking and distribution but is also involved in arms trafficking and coercing young women into its sex trade. These crime groups use extreme violence to dominate criminal markets and evade laughable European law enforcement efforts to interdict them. But while he is comfortable joking amiably with his NATO and European Union counterparts, numerous U.S. intelligence and security sources have told the Washington Examiner that Rama is a direct beneficiary of Albanian organized crime activity. There is also growing public evidence of Rama’s culpability.
Enter Luftar Hysa. The leader of Albania’s Hysa organized crime family, Luftar presents himself as a businessman unfairly tarred as a mobster. The reality, again, as multiple intelligence and law enforcement sources have told the Washington Examiner, is that Luftar is a top money launderer for the Sinaloa Cartel.
The Sinaloa Cartel is Mexico’s second most powerful cartel, only recently losing the initiative to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. And although it’s beset by an internal war between followers of the U.S.-imprisoned Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García, Sinaloa Cartel entities retain formidable reach and power. They are responsible for truly vast amounts of drug smuggling across the U.S.-Mexico border each year. The Sinaloa Cartel also retains close links to senior members of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Morena Party. To enrich their leaders and corrupt political-law enforcement-military enablers, the cartels need to smuggle their drugs to foreign markets and then launder earnings from their sales. That’s where Albania is so important.
The Biden administration essentially ignored Albania’s endemic drug cartel corruption. On Nov. 13, however, the Trump administration announced a freeze on the assets of Luftar Hysa and four of his siblings. Americans are also now restricted from business dealings with these people. The Treasury Department notes that the Hysa crime group has “used its influence through its investments in, or control over, various Mexico-based businesses — including gambling establishments and restaurants — to launder the proceeds of narcotics trafficking.”
With a not-so-subtle rejoinder to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Treasury Department’s announcement notes Luftar’s regular travels to Canada and includes two of his Canadian businesses in its sanctions list. It further explains that the Hysa organized crime group “is believed to operate with the consent of the Sinaloa Cartel, which maintains criminal control over much of the territory where the group conducts its activities. … Luftar and Arben [Hysa] have utilized a Europe-based entity to enrich themselves from laundering illicit funds belonging to suspected narcotraffickers. Luftar also owns or directs several companies used by” the Hysa organized crime group.
What might this “Europe-based entity” be? We can’t be sure, but an October 2020 meeting with Rama gives an idea.
In October 2020, Rama hosted a meeting at his official office in Tirana with one of his political fixers, Dorian Ducka; a former German parliamentarian, Mark Hauptmann; Luftar Hysa; and Besnik Lulaj. When the identities of the attendees became public two years later, Rama declared that they had met to discuss lawful investment opportunities. Apparently not getting the stay-on-the-same-script memo, however, Luftar Hysa claimed that they had discussed a tourism book that a British friend was writing. While most Albanian reports, including photographs of attendees leaving Rama’s office, have mysteriously been taken offline, archived links remain available.
Lulaj is important here. Rama’s government and family have contracted Lulaj for numerous lucrative construction projects. But perhaps more relevant is Lulaj’s Marina Bay Resort and Casino. El Universal has reported that the casino represents one of the key Albania-based money laundering sites for the Sinaloa Cartel. Scaled geographic diversity is important when it comes to laundering billions of dollars in drug revenue. Could the Marina Bay resort be the “Europe-based entity” that the Treasury Department references?
At a minimum, it’s clear that Rama has allowed Albania to become a mafia state that provides a safe haven for some of the most serious international criminals and their illicit resources. At worst, like Maduro in Venezuela, Rama is the kingpin enabler of this activity, enriching himself and his allies in return for a share in the profits. But the risks of U.S. tolerance for this activity should be clear.
UK TAKES ANOTHER LEAP DOWN THE PATH TO SOCIALIST DECLINE
In Latin America, rampant drug trafficking has led politicians and security officials to take personal benefit from that trafficking rather than confront it. Only a few very brave officials are willing to stand up to the traffickers. And as with Mayor Carlos Manzo, they often end up dead. The cartels show how powerful nonstate actors are gradually displacing state authority with their own.
The Trump administration has significant leverage it can apply to Albania. This includes tariffs, sanctions, and restrictions on cooperation. But at a minimum, the U.S. should seek the immediate extradition of the Hysa crime family from their home in Mexico, warning Sheinbaum that it views those extraditions as a priority concern. Trump should then tell Rama that unless he changes course and starts confronting his erstwhile allies, he may not like what follows.
