| Founded | 1970s |
|---|---|
| Founding location | North Macedonia |
| Territory | North Macedonia, Balkans, Italy, Germany, Australia |
| Ethnicity | Macedonians |
| Criminal activities | Arms trafficking, Assault, Extortion, Fraud, Human trafficking, Illegal gambling, Kidnapping, Money laundering, Murder, Racketeering, Theft |
| Allies | Serbian mafia Bulgarian mafia Albanian mafia Bosnian Mafia Russian mafia 'Ndrangheta Camorra Turkish mafia Romanian mafia Chinese mafia[1] |
The Macedonian mafia (Macedonian: Македонска мафија, romanized: Makedonska mafija) is a body of illegal gangs and criminal organizations operating in North Macedonia and within the Macedonian diaspora.
The organizations are primarily involved in smuggling, arms trafficking, drug trafficking, heists, protection rackets, and illegal gambling. The mafia comprises several major organized groups, which in turn have wider networks in Macedonia and throughout Europe.
History[edit]
As far back as the 1880s, Macedonian opium poppy had an international reputation for being of high quality, owing to the region's particular environmental conditions. From 1918–1941, the production of opium in present-day North Macedonia satisfied 43% of the demand from the global legal processing industry.[2] Between 1927 and 1939, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (which encompassed present-day North Macedonia) produced an average of 42 tons of opium per year, worth around 29 million dinars, which corresponded to the average annual revenue of the province of Vardarska Banovina. Between eight and ten tons of opium were smuggled into Yugoslavia every year. Therefore, it is estimated that almost a quarter of the legally produced opium ended up in the illegal trafficking market. Criminal organizations in the cities of Belgrade and Skopje were also associated with prominent European smuggling networks that facilitated illegal exports of opium and its derivatives. In 1937, the United States and other countries in the League of Nations pressured the Yugoslav government to take action against the drug smuggling industry, and the problem diminished temporarily. [3]
In 2006, Macedonian police seized five vehicles at the Macedonia-Albania border in a raid on a human-smuggling gang. One of the vehicles was suspected, but not confirmed, to be David Beckham's luxury SUV, which had been stolen from him in Madrid, Spain where Beckham played for Real Madrid.[4][5]
On 7 January 2007, a truck carrying a shipment of 486 kg of cocaine from Venezuela to Greece was stopped at the Blace border crossing. The value of the seized drug shipment was 92 million euros. The driver of the truck, Alija Azirović, and Macedonian businesswoman Stanislava Chochorovska Poletan were both arrested, tried, and sentenced to 14.5 years prison time.[6][7]
From 2007–2010, police from Austria, Germany, and Macedonia conducted a series of raids against a Macedonia-based crime organization known as the "Frankfurt mafia". The largest of these raids was conducted 21–22 December 2010, and resulted in the arrests of approximately 100 people. During the entire three-year operation, approximately 400 people were arrested, of which 29 were arrested in Macedonia.[8][9]
In 2019, the Italian police dismantled a scheme created by the Macedonian mafia that falsified documents and "encouraged" Macedonians to go and work for them in Italy. The group was based in the city of Alba in the Northern Italian region of Piedmont.[10]
On 6 December 2020, two tons of marijuana packed in 200 boxes were stolen from a licensed cannabis oil production plant in Josifovo. On 7 December 2020, the stolen goods were found in Arachinovo. The estimated value of the goods was 6 million euros, or as much as 10 million if sold in the form of cannabis oil.[11]
On 6 April 2021, a scandal was revealed concerning the Interior Ministry having issued passports to high-profile criminals from around the world. Nine Macedonian civil servants were arrested in Skopje for involvement in the scandal. Between 2017 and 2021, the Interior Ministry issued passports with false names to at least 215 people.[12][13]
Today, high-activity cities for organized crime in North Macedonia include Skopje, Veles, Shtip, and Kočani. The border crossings of Bogorodica (on the Macedonia–Greece border), Jažince (on the Macedonia–Kosovo border), and the tri-border area between North Macedonia, Kosovo, and Serbia see high activity as well. The main goods subject to illegal trading are food, gold, jewelry, cigarettes, and drugs. Concerning drugs specifically, the most actively traded are Albanian cannabis via the Preshevo Valley, heroin that comes from Turkey to Bulgaria, and cocaine from Serbia. There is also speculation that synthetic drugs are manufactured in Tetovo, following the discovery there of an illegal laboratory resulting in the confiscation of 300 kilograms of amphetamine pills. The Tetovo region, as well as the villages of Vaksince and Lojane, are known to be centers for migrant trafficking. [14]
Groups[edit]
Key people[edit]
| Name Alias |
Born/died | Title | Info | Affiliation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mafiosi | ||||
| Slobodan Kostovski "Kole"[15] | 1953 - | Head Boss | Important person in the European criminal underworld in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, known for bank robberies and drug trafficking (cocaine) in Sweden, the Netherlands and Brazil; in recent decades known as a kingpin in Balkans cocaine networks in Latin America. | Own Gang |
| Petrit Ame "Don Pietro" | 1959 - 2000 | Head Boss | Important person in the European criminal underworld in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, kingpin in the criminal scene of Paris and Skopje, involved in drug trafficking (cocaine), kidnapping, assault and shooting, known for cooperating with French, Macedonian, Albanian and Serbian secret services. | Own Gang |
| Flamur Ame | 1952 - | Head Boss | Important person in the European criminal underworld in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, kingpin in the criminal scene of Skopje as well as Rome, Italy. Involved in drug trafficking (cocaine and heroin), sex trafficking, assault and shooting. | Own Gang |
| Daut Kadriovski | 1949 - 2016 | Head Boss | Head boss of drug trafficking (heroin) networks in Italy, Albania and North Macedonia in the 1980s and 1990s; crime boss between the few most important crime bosses of the Albanian Mafia in the world, associated with Cosa Nostra and Ukrainian Mafia, died of natural causes in 2016. | Own Gang |
| Metush Bajrami "Meto" | 1958 - | Head Boss | Head boss of a drug trafficking (heroin) network in Italy and Bulgaria, arrested in 2005 in Milan, Italy with 17 other people who worked for him, and in 2006 sentenced to 18 years in prison. | Own Gang |
| Nexhat Abeli "Samko" | - 1994 | Head Boss | Head boss of the criminal underground in Slovakia for many years, involved in drug trafficking (cocaine), killed by police in Bratislava. | Own Gang |
| Basri Bajrami | 1955 - | Gangster | In 1989, kidnapped Belgian Prime Minister Paul Vanden Boeynants in Belgium. | Haemers Gang |
| Enver Kjazimi "Murdza" | - | Head Boss | Known as the earliest drug kingpin in Skopje associated with Russian Mafia and Bulgarian Mafia, involved in drug trafficking (heroin) in the 1990s, as well as theft, assault and shooting, died of natural causes of heart problems in 2004 or 2005. | Gazi Baba Gang |
| Orce Korunovski "Pikadili" | 1964 - 2002 | Gangster | Known as controversial businessman, associated with Serbian and Bulgarian crime bosses, involved in assault and shooting in Skopje, killed in 2002 in Varna, Bulgaria by hitman. | Own Gang |
| Marjan Tushevski "Bokser" | 1964 - 2001 | Gangster | Known as racketeering, protection racket and kidnapping kingpin in 90's in Skopje, involved in assault and shooting, killed in 2001 in Skopje by an unknown group of hitmen. | Own Gang |
| Ace Bocevski "Ciganot" | 1963 - | Gangster | Important person in political crimes in transition period in Macedonia during the 1990s for racketeering, assault and shooting. In 1997 he professionally assassinated a controversial businessman, Sead Ibraimi, in Skopje, and since then he has been a fugitive. | Own Gang |
| Aslan Nuishi "Aslan Poda" | 1964 - | Head Boss | Crime boss involved in drug trafficking, kidnapping, motor vehicle theft, usury, assault, shooting and forgery in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany and Macedonia, suspected and released for assassination of Macedonian President Kiro Gligorov in 1995, arrested in police action "Mrezha" in 2014 in the village of Grčec near Skopje and sentenced to prison. | Grchec Gang |
| Zija Asani[16] | 1955 - 2019 | Head Boss | The head boss of cocaine trafficking in Macedonia for many years, he was associated with Zemun Clan. He was arrested in village Aračinovo near Skopje in 2012 and sentenced to prison, died of natural causes from a heart attack in 2019. | Arachinovo Gang |
| Xhelal Ajeti "Dzeljo" | 1967 - 2013 | Head Boss | Leader of the gang known as "Bellanoca Group", involved in usury, racketeering, assaults, shootings, and assassinations, killed in 2013 in Skopje. | Bellanoca Gang |
| Romeo Zhivikj
"Roki" |
1964 - 2004 | Gangster | He was involved in racketeering and arms trafficking, and collaborated with Macedonian secret services. He was killed in a gunfight by his rival Jane Pavlovski Tica in 2004 at Macedonian Square in Skopje. | Own Gang |
| Dilaver Bojku "Leku" | 1962 - 2017 | Head Boss | Involved in sex trafficking and ranked as "King of the Balkans" after the big police action in 2003 against him in village Veleshta near Struga. Leku was killed by hitmen in 2017 on his beach in Struga. | Own Gang |
| Asmer Hajradinovic "Akica Totic" | 1969 - | Head Boss | Head boss of a criminal group that is involved in international drug trafficking (cocaine), important member of the Bosnian criminal underground in Sarajevo, pursued by Serbian police in action "Mashina" in 2011. | Own Gang |
| Vojislav Budisavljevic | 1964- | Head Boss | Head boss of the criminal group that is involved in international drug trafficking (cocaine), known for strong connections in Latin America, pursued by Macedonian police in 2010 for cocaine trade and extradited to Macedonia from Belgium in 2014, arrested and sentenced to prison in 2019 in Spain for 700 kg cocaine shipment. | Own Gang |
| Vladimir Budisavljevic | - | Head Boss | Head boss of the criminal group that is involved in international drug trafficking (cocaine), known for his strong connections in Latin America. He was arrested and sentenced to prison in 2019 in Spain for a 700 kg cocaine shipment. | Own Gang |
| Bajrush Sejdiu | 1968 - | Head Boss | Involved in tobacco smuggling network, a prison friend of Paolo Berlusconi, arrested in police action "Pepel" in Kumanovo in 2008 and sentenced to 5 years in prison. | Own Gang |
| Stanislava Chochorovska Poletan | 1968 - | Smuggler | A kingpin in drug and tobacco smuggling networks in Balkans, known as "Balkans queen of cocaine" and as the godmother of Zeljko Raznatovic Arkan. She was arrested in 2007 in Belgrade because of a 483 kg shipment of cocaine seized at the Blace border crossing. She was extradited to Macedonia the same year asentenced to 14.5 years in prison. | Own Gang |
| John Kizon | 1962 - | Head Boss | A kingpin in the underworld of Perth, Australia, known as a controversial businessman involved in drug trafficking (heroin) and fixing boxing fights. | Own Gang |
| Naser Dzeljilji | 1960 - | Head Boss | Known as the leader and founder of the Naserligan; He has been involved in drug trafficking, robbery, assault, shooting and assassinations in Gothenburg, Sweden. | Naserligan |
| Daniel Johansson Petrovski "Dani Jude" | 1983 - | Head Boss | Known as the leader of the dominant gang in Malmo, Sweden. He has been involved in international drug trafficking and assassinations. He was arrested in 2021 in Sweden. | Own Gang |
| Zoran Manaskov "Skrsheniot" |
1970 - | Head Boss | Head boss of heroin ring, operating in Germany and Austria based out of the city of Veles. He was arrested in Macedonia in police action "Konduktor" in 2010, and sentenced to 13 years in prison. | Frankfurt mafia |
| Jordan Jordanov
"Rkulot" |
1973 - 2010 | Head Boss | Head boss of heroin ring, operating in Germany and Austria based out of the city of Veles, arrested in police action "Operation Veles" in 2009, killed in gunfight in 2010 in Skopje. | Frankfurt Mafia |
| Agim Krasniqi | 1979 - | Head Boss | Leader of a gang from Kondovo. He has been involved in usury, racketeering, kidnapping, assault, shooting, assassinations, political crimes and terrorism. He was arrested in 2008 in Kondovo with his gang and sentenced to 15 years in prison. In 2020 he escaped from prison and since then, has been a fugitive. | Kondovo Gang |
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "Македонските криминалци се во секојдневна врска со земунскиот клан". Утрински Весник. 2006-10-16.
- ^ Samardjiev, Aleksandar (2023-09-13). "Opium poppy, will it return to the fields of North Macedonia?". OBC Transeuropa (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-01-17.
- ^ Jovanović, Vladan (2018-05-22). "Yugoslav-American Opium Cooperation 1929–1941". Časopis za suvremenu povijest (in Croatian). 50 (1): 35–64. doi:10.22586/csp.v50i1.75. ISSN 0590-9597.
- ^ "Beckham's stolen jeep turns up in Macedonia". Reuters. 2007-08-09. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
- ^ "Is Macedonia's minister driving Beckham's jeep?". Reuters. 2007-09-08. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
- ^ Blic (2017-12-29). "Balkanska kraljica kokaina i Arkanova kuma izašla iz zatvora". CDM. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
- ^ A. Ž. A. (2007-01-12). "Čočorovska osuđena na 14,5 godina zatvora". Blic. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
- ^ "Drug bust". dw.com. December 24, 2010.
- ^ "Huge 'Macedonian-led' heroin ring broken up in Europe". BBC News. 2010-12-23. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
- ^ "Македонска мафија во Италија: Македонци држеле сонародници како робови". skopjeinfo.mk (in Macedonian). Retrieved 2024-02-26.
- ^ "The two tons of marijuana that were stolen in Josifovo on Thursday, were found tonight in Aracinovo - Free Press". Sloboden Pečat. 7 December 2020.
- ^ "North Macedonia officials 'handed fake passports to foreign criminals'". euronews. 2021-04-07. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
- ^ "Six detained over the "passports for criminals" scandal". Republika English. 2021-04-08. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
- ^ "Жариштата на организираниот криминал во Македонија" [Hotspots of organized crime in Macedonia]. Deutsche Welle.
- ^ Bogosav, Bojana (2023-08-26). "JURIO GA CEO SVET, A ON OPUŠTENO PUTOVAO Novi detalji hapšenja Srbina zbog 2 tone kokaina: Pobegao iz zatvora u Brazilu, pa se krio u Beogradu". Blic.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 2024-01-20.
- ^ "Zija Asani zë në thua me 800 gramë heroin - PORTALB". 2012-10-09. Retrieved 2024-01-20.