-Caveat Lector- http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/archive/4-11-19102-0-27-34.html
UK-based mafia gangs a legacy of intake of refugees IAN BRUCE and VICKY COLLINS WHEN Britain first agreed to receive up to 1000 Kosovans every week in 1999, Balkans experts warned that it might find itself taking in more than just refugees fleeing the war. Strong mafia gangs originating in Albania had already established bases in Greece, Germany and Italy and used those bases to strengthen existing people and drug-trafficking routes and establish new ones. The British Helsinki Human Rights Group predicted that UK support for Kosovan refugees would also open it up to offshoots of these criminal gangs and, within two years, that prediction had shown itself to be true. By 2001, the Albanian mafia had seized the Soho vice trade, according to a Home Office report which said that it controlled 70% of saunas and massage parlours in London. The sheer scale of the alleged plan to kidnap Victoria Beckham for a ransom of �5m suggests it may be further proof of the strength of such gangs in Britain. Mafia syndicates from Romania and Albania control the crossroads of crime via the Balkans into western Europe, running Colombian cartel-style empires which are the main conduit for heroin processed in Turkey. Between four and six tonnes a month is sold on the streets of European cities from Berlin to Glasgow. The Balkan godfathers also operate the biggest people-smuggling ring in the world, moving illegal immigrants, weapons, drugs and women destined for the sex trade along the same route through to central Europe. Last year, police estimated that up to 75% of women working in brothels across the UK were either from Albania or were Kosovan Albanians, and that the vast majority were controlled by the Albanian mafia. Although the alleged plot to kidnap Victoria Beckham would be the first time British-based Albanian gangs had been known to become involved in abductions, they are a very popular means of raising a supplementary income among the mafia and political groups in Kosovo. The Kosovan Liberation Army, also known to orchestrate kidnappings, has strong links with these criminal gangs. However, it is unlikely that a plot to kidnap the Beckhams was aimed at raising money for a political resistance in eastern Europe. There is still an international peacekeeping force patrolling Kosovo, making resistance of a scale that would require such large amounts of money difficult, but not impossible. But it seems likely that the chance to make money from a couple whose wealth is regularly splashed across the tabloids, rather than politics, was the driving force. - Nov 4th <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http://archive.jab.org/ctrl@;listserv.aol.com/ <A HREF="http://archive.jab.org/ctrl@;listserv.aol.com/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
