RESEARCH REPORT SPOT PRICES Analyzing flows of people, drugs and money in the Western Balkans WALTER KEMP I KRISTINA AMERHAUSER I RUGGERO SCATURRO MAY 2021 SPOT PRICES Analyzing flows of people, drugs and money in the Western Balkans ww Walter Kemp I Kristina Amerhauser I Ruggero Scaturro May 2021 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report is an output of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime’s (GI-TOC) Observatory of Illicit Economies in South Eastern Europe (SEE-Obs). SEE-Obs is a platform that connects and empowers civil society actors in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. It aims to enable civil society to identify, analyze and map criminal trends, and their impact on illicit flows, governance, development, inter-ethnic relations, security and the rule of law, and supports them in their monitoring of national dynamics and wider regional and international organized crime trends. This report is based on data, information and analyses collected and shared by civil society actors based in the Western Balkans. In particular, we thank Arta Berisha, Dajana Berisha, Driçim Çaka, Bojan Elek, Katerina Geteva, Lavdim Hamidi, Artan Hoxha, Jeton Ismaili, Natalija Jakovljević, Miroslava Jelačić, Jelena Jovanović, Danijel Kovačević, Ornela Liperi, Miroslava Milenović, Ana Milosavljević, Semir Mujkić, Safet Mušić, Nadica Petrova, Roland Qafoku, Senad Ramadanović, Ilya Roubanis, Ivica Simonovski, Aleksandar Stankov and Jelena Zorić. We also thank all other contributors who deserve recognition for their support and participation in this report but cannot be named. Special thanks go to our colleagues Anesa Agović and Saša Đorđević as well as Aleksandar Srbinovski for their inputs, feedback, and coordination concerning the field work as well as help with preparation of the data and maps. We are also grateful for the support of other members of the SEE-Obs team: Fatjona Mejdini, Uglješa (Ugi) Zvekić, Fabian Zhilla, Odd Malme and Trpe Stojanovski. This publication was produced with the financial support of the United Kingdom’s Conflict, Stability and Security Fund. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the GI-TOC and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Kingdom. ABOUT THE AUTHORS Walter Kemp is a Senior Fellow at the GI-TOC and directs the SEE-Obs. He is also Special Adviser to the Cooperative Security Initiative. Previously, he held a number of senior positions in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, was vice president of the International Peace Institute and spokesman and speechwriter at the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. He has written extensively on conflict prevention, the relationship between crime and conflict, and European security issues. Kristina Amerhauser is an analyst at the GI-TOC conducting research on the Western Balkans and working on the SEE-Obs. She has a master’s degree in advanced international studies from the Vienna School of International Studies Ruggero Scaturro is an analyst for the GI-TOC conducting research on the Western Balkans and on Italian mafia-related issues. His main areas of interest and expertise are organized crime in south and south-eastern Europe, with a specific focus on the history of Cosa Nostra and its ties with other criminal networks. © 2021 Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the Global Initiative. Cover design: Flame Design Design and illustration: Ink Design Publishing Solutions Cartography: Rudi de Lange Please direct inquiries to: The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime Avenue de France 23 Geneva, CH-1202 Switzerland www.globalinitiative.net CONTENTS Executive summary .............................................................................................................................................iv Smuggling of migrants .........................................................................................................................................2 The context: drivers, barriers and incentives ..................................................................................................... 3 The routes ............................................................................................................................................................. 5 Asylum seekers and migrants ............................................................................................................................. 6 The hotspots .......................................................................................................................................................... 7 The smugglers .................................................................................................................................................... 10 Modalities of smuggling and payments ........................................................................................................... 16 The dangers of smuggling ................................................................................................................................. 18 Estimating the size and value of the market ................................................................................................... 18 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................................... 21 Drugs ........................................................................................................................................................................ 22 Cannabis .............................................................................................................................................................. 24 Heroin ................................................................................................................................................................. 30 Cocaine ............................................................................................................................................................... 34 Synthetic drugs................................................................................................................................................... 37 Hotspots ............................................................................................................................................................. 40 The business and actors .................................................................................................................................... 43 Money laundering .............................................................................................................................................. 46 Laundering smaller amounts .............................................................................................................................. 50 More money, more complexity ......................................................................................................................... 57 Moving forward .................................................................................................................................................. 67 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................................. 68 Notes ........................................................................................................................................................................... 71 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A police officer patrols the Croatia–Serbia border near Tovarnik. © Antonio Bronic/Reuters via Alamy Stock Photo iv he Western Balkans is a crossroads for the trafficking of many illicit commodities, and a geographical hub for the smuggling of migrants who Tare trying to enter Western Europe. While these facts are well known, information on the size of the markets and the potential profits is less evident. And while the Western Balkans has a bad reputation for laundering illicit proceeds, there is not much information on cities or sectors where it is a problem. This report sheds light on the dark numbers of mixed migrant flows through the Western Balkans, the prices that they pay to be smuggled, as well as the cost of drugs in the region. To do this, it uses an approach pioneered in two previous Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) reports on organized crime in the Western Balkans, namely pinpointing and looking at what is going on in selected hotspots, especially high-volume entry and exit routes through which migrants are smuggled, and key drug trafficking nodes. Focusing on illicit activity in these hotspots provides a close-up look at the drivers and enablers of organized crime. At the same time, an analysis of these hotspots in a regional context gives an indication of the volume of illicit trade and the potential profits being made. After looking at the amounts of money being made in these hotspots and showing where and how the smuggling of migrants and drugs is taking place, the report looks at a third flow – money. The third section of the report explains how money laundering works in the region both in terms of cleaning small amounts in the informal economy as well as bigger volumes generated by serious organized crime and large-scale corruption. It