Balkan criminals in USA.

How much info any of you guys have on people from Balkan(Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia mainly) operating in USA? Share your knowledge here, thanks!

There are mostly albanian in the U.S. and some small amount of ex-yugoslav criminals.Most of em work with narcotics and arms.There are also some small independent macedonian groups,usually doing money frauds and scams.Two or three years ago there was this criminal from macedonia,he did a 2,5 mil $ bank credit fraud...

As Toodoped said,mostly Albanian,Serbian groups have big presence in Germany and Netherlands.Somee Serbian groups are involved in smuggling cocaine from South America to Europe.Best known groups from Balkan are Pink Panthers im sure u heard about them.

quote from the FBI-
Balkan criminal organizations have been active in the U.S. since the mid-1980s. At first, these organizations were involved in low-level crimes, including bank robberies, ATM burglaries, and home invasions. Later, ethnic Albanians affiliated themselves with the established LCN families in New York, acting as low-level participants. As their communities and presence have become more established, they have expanded to lead and control their own organizations.

There is no single Balkan “Mafia,” structured hierarchically like the traditional LCN. Rather, Balkan organized crime groups in this country translated their clan-like structure to the United States. They are not clearly defined or organized and are instead grouped around a central leader or leaders. Organized crime figures maintain ties back to the Balkan region and have established close-knit communities in many cities across the nation.

Albanian organized crime activities in the U.S. include gambling, money laundering, drug trafficking, human smuggling, extortion, violent witness intimidation, robbery, attempted murder, and murder. Balkan organized crime groups have recently expanded into more sophisticated crimes including real estate fraud.

A somewhat recent case from 2009 called operation black eagle is a pretty good example of how Balkan OC groups tend to operate more as "loose networks" and even though there here in the US they maintain tight links to their home countries.


Federal Agents Shut Down International Smorgasbord of Crime
FBI Newark
March 18, 2009


NEWARK, NJ—The FBI, in conjunction with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) have charged 26 individuals with a laundry list of crimes including narcotics and firearms trafficking, money laundering, interstate transportation of stolen property, and criminal conspiracy. Four of the subjects are presently fugitives. This is the culmination of a joint operation between the federal agencies that began in late 2003 with targets in Albania, Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia, Canada, the Netherlands and the United States.

The coordinated arrests of 17 of the 26 defendants occurred over a period of five days in various cites throughout the New Jersey – New York area. Arrests in New Jersey included the cities of Paterson, Lodi, Clifton, and Wayne. Arrests were also made in Brooklyn, and Staten Island, New York. The arrests resulted in the seizure of large quantities of ecstasy, oxycodone and heroin (of the Afghan variety), and crystal methamphetamine as well in excess of $500,000 in cash and property, to include two airplanes used for the smuggling of illegal drugs and contraband, and two vehicles including a Bentley.

Code named “Black Eagle”, this four year joint investigation targeted several loosely connected Balkan Criminal Enterprises operating throughout New Jersey, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Canada, and the Netherlands. With the assistance of ICE and the ATF, the FBI was able to infiltrate the criminal enterprise and purchase over 30,000 ecstasy pills, 2 ½ kilograms of heroin, a 9 mm handgun, two assault style weapons, and stolen jewelry. Also negotiated were money laundering transactions and the importation of large amounts of cocaine, heroin, marijuana, oxycodone, anabolic steroids, over a million pills of ecstasy, and counterfeit sneakers—all from Canada, Greece, Macedonia, Albania, Turkey, and Serbia. These negotiations were held in various meetings in various New Jersey cities including Paterson, Clifton, Elmwood Park, Buena, and Atlantic City. Negotiations also occurred in New York, Chicago, Toronto, Miami, and Hartford, Connecticut. In some cases, the subjects bargained for trading one form of contraband for another. The criminal complaint alleges that the oxycodone originated from a pharmacy in Canada owned by an associate of the criminal enterprise.

In a meeting in February of 2009, two of the subjects, Paul Robinson and Louis Luyten, bragged that they had smuggled drugs into the United States in the past and were looking to work for Colombian drug importers. In this meeting, Robinson and Luyten agreed to transport ten kilograms of cocaine from an airport in Florida to an airport in New Jersey for a flat fee of $15,000. Subsequently, both subjects conspired to deliver 50 to 100 kilograms of cocaine from a New Jersey airport to an airport in Canada.

“This case vividly illustrates how crime has become global,” said Weysan Dun, Special Agent In Charge of the FBI’s Newark Field Office. “Although the individuals recently arrested conducted their criminal activity in a variety of cities and towns throughout New Jersey, they all had associations and connections overseas. These criminals had links to criminal associates in seven countries—Albania, Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia, Canada, the Netherlands and the United States. These criminals in New Jersey were networked around the world. The good news is that Federal law enforcement networks also span the world and our networks are better than the criminals networks.”

Thanks for the info, but does anyone have something like...more personal experience like or something that can't really be found on the net that easily?