Content deleted Content added
Line 25:
<references/>
</div>
Of particular concern to law enforcement personnel, however, has been the level of organized Albanian activity within the U.S. By the early to mid-1980's, Albanians in area cities and suburbs outside Detroit and New York were already involved in crimes ranging from robbery to extortion. Indeed, by 1985, Albanians were already gaining notoriety for their drug trafficking. This activity became predominant among the so-called Balkan Route which begins in Central Asia, through Istanbul to Belgrade and, with Sicilian and French connections, makes its way to the US. American Drug Enforcement Administration officials estimated that between 25 percent and 40 percent of the US heroin supply by 1985 was taking this route, with Albanian assistance.
Ten years later, more organized, disciplined and out on their own, Albanian crime gangs have increased the scope of both their activities and geographic locations within the United States. By January 1995, authorities estimated that approximately 10 million U.S. dollars in cash and merchandise had been stolen from some 300 supermarkets, ATM machines, jewelry stores and restaurants. By the early 1990's, groups based in the New York area, particularly the Bronx, were committing robberies with such frequency and success that local law enforcement officials realized federal assistance would be required. The FBI, however, was equally at a loss as to the nature, extent, and structure of these groups. After examination of several criminal incidents, some conclusions were made. First, it appeared that many of the thefts which occurred were carried out, in an attempt to fund either the war effort in the former Yugoslavia, or to assist fellow Albanians in Macedonia and Kosovo. Concern among those area authorities, as previously stated, was that this source of funding was aiding those more right wing elements that are stockpiling weapons awaiting the right time for future insurrection. Second, it appeared that the Albanians operating within the US had a series of crews separated into premier and second class units depending upon the difficulty of the job.
The FBI's prosecution of traditional Italian-American Mob Families in the 1990s weakened the Lucchese Family so greatly that the Rudaj Organization,of the Albanian Mob, were able to take over the Italian organization’s gambling operations in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens. And when the Lucchese Family was run out of the district, the Gambinos, another Italian-American Mafia Family, attempted to take their place before the Albanians could take full control of Astoria's gambling rackets. But the Rudaj Organization was able to hold their own against them, so the Gambinos gave up and accepted the fact that illegal gambling in Astoria was no longer under Italian-American rule.
The Rudaj Organization is the name given to the so-called Albanian mafia in the New York City area in a 44-page indictment unsealed on October 26, 2004. The FBI and Manhattan U.S. Attorney David Kelley announced the arrest of the group's alleged boss, Alex Rudaj, and twenty-six other reputed gang members indicted in connection with racketeering, attempted murder, robbery, extortion, gambling and loan-sharking. Kelley's office said it believes the indictment is the first federal racketeering case in the United States against an alleged organized crime enterprise run by Albanians.<sup id="_ref-4" class="reference">[5] Alex Rudaj and five of his gang members were later convicted of racketeering on January 4, 2006.
==See also==
| |||