The former head of the police, Arben Hajdarmataj, sees the agreement signed today between Albania and Spain for cooperation in the fight against organized crime as a positive step. However, according to him, if it is not implemented, it has no value.
Hajdarmataj says that there was a similar project some time ago among the countries of the Western Balkans, but it was never fully implemented.
"The Ministry of the Interior has agreements with many EU countries. There are contact officers in Albania, there are also Albanian officers in the respective countries, that is, respectively in both countries. The agreement is basically positive, but I must recall that a long time ago there had a project regarding all BP countries for cross-border cooperation and investigation. A project that was financed by the EU and every year the interior ministers met. The focus of that was what Mr. Rama is commenting on today, that is, joint cross-border investigations and the fight against organized crime. This agreement is positive, but if it remained on paper it has no value. It was not for nothing that I mentioned the regional agreement, which remained at the level of contacts. The essence was the fact that the laws of different countries have specifics different.There are different obstacles and they need protocols to be implemented."declared the former director of the State Police for MCN tv.
Hajdarmataj said that the agreement becomes necessary in terms of strengthening Albanian criminal groups in Spain. This is due to their relocation from Britain, where they have started to lose ground due to strong competition.
"If we take Spain specifically, because the activity of Albanian groups is spread across all EU countries. It was concentrated for the cultivation of narcotics in England. Now the market has moved to Spain. In England, activity has decreased due to increasing competition and lowering the price. The groups are directed to Spain. Spain has two currents: there are developed groups that deal with the theft of homes, especially those who have a lot of wealth, and in narcotics activities. Albania has cooperation with Spanish counterparts, but also with Europol" said Hajdarmataj.