Summary Highlights
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Could the war in Ukraine affect organized crime in the Western Balkans?
The war in Ukraine has raged for two months, with devastating consequences for the country and its population. This situation also has repercussions outside the country. We examine how the war in Ukraine could expand the space of opportunity for organized crime in the Western Balkans, including through arms trafficking, money laundering, sanctions evasion, movement of fighters or a possible change of traffic routes.
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Bosnia and Herzegovina has become a key transit country for arms trafficking in Europe.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is both a country of origin and a country of transit for the smuggling of small arms and light weapons. Since the end of the war in Bosnia in 1995, the country has been full of weapons. We look at where the weapons come from, where they go and who is involved in this business that contributes to terrorism, war and organized crime.
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Brcko: A market for organized crime.
In this issue we focus on the Brcko hotspot in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina. This district, close to Bosnia’s borders with Croatia and Serbia, renowned since the early 1990s as a market for everything, has recently been the scene of numerous incidents linked to the trafficking of migrants, weapons and drugs. We look at the vulnerability factors and the current situation.
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Extortion is underestimated and underreported in Serbia.
There have been reports of extortion, usury and racketeering in Serbia, but how big is the problem? A new study carried out through a grant from the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) Resilience Fund shows that the problem is underestimated and underestimated.
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Allegations of missing babies still haunt Serbia.
For several decades, thousands of babies have disappeared from maternity wards in Serbia and been sold to parents wishing to adopt a child. The shocking trade was revealed following a case against Serbia before the European Court of Human Rights. How is such a practice possible, to what extent is it organized and what is being done to remedy it?
About this question
Welcome to the 12th issue of the Risk Bulletin produced by the GI-TOC’s Observatory of Illicit Economies in South-Eastern Europe.
Like many, we are stunned by the horrific events in Ukraine. We are also concerned about the impact of the war, both in Ukraine and on its population, as well as its possible repercussions elsewhere. In line with our mission, we pay particular attention to the potential impact of the war on organized crime in the Western Balkans. As we did with COVID-19, we will closely monitor the effects of the war in Ukraine on the illicit economies of southeastern Europe.
We often talk about how weapons are smuggled from the Western Balkans, for example for use by criminal groups or terrorists in Western Europe. In this issue we take a closer look at the problem in Bosnia and Herzegovina. While we knew how weapons left over from the Bosnian War were smuggled onto the black market, we were surprised to learn that Bosnia and Herzegovina is also a transit country. Furthermore, recent arrests and seizures demonstrate transnational cooperation, both from criminals and law enforcement – as several recent investigations have revealed.
As in every issue, we focus on an organized crime hotspot. This time it is Brcko, in the north of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Based on interviews and first-hand observations, we explain the vulnerability factors and types of trafficking prevalent in this small region, as well as the problems of corruption within the police.
With a grant from the GI-TOC Resilience Fund, Milos Katić from Vojvodina, Serbia, conducted research on extortion and usury in the country. We present some of the key findings from his research, published in December 2021.
In recent years, Serbian media have published reports of missing babies. Although most of the cases examined date back decades, it appears that the theft and illicit trafficking of babies and even embryos may still be a problem in a number of countries, exhibiting characteristics of organized crime.
We recently published a report on illicit financial flows (IFFs) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia, which follows the publication of a similar assessment in 2020 analyzing the main drivers and current trends of IFFs in Albania, in Kosovo and North Macedonia. The report highlights the need for increased information on the impact and harm of IFFs, as well as the capacity of civil society to investigate and raise awareness about these types of crimes. We hope to focus on these topics in the future.
We are always looking for new ways to present our work. We have therefore developed an interactive online platform to present some of the data and key findings from our reports. The first visualization is an overview of migrant smuggling across the Western Balkans. The information is based on data from our 2021 report “Spot prices: analysis of flows of people, drugs and money in the Western Balkans”. The tool provides data on irregular border crossings along the Balkan route, the number and nationality of migrants and asylum seekers, estimated profits from the migrant smuggling market and an interactive map displaying routes of illicit trafficking and the prices paid for each route. Watch this space for more visualizations of our work, including the link between organized crime and football hooliganism, as well as trafficking through ports in South East Europe.
If you have a story suggestion or would like to provide feedback, please contact: almedina.dodic@globalinitiative.net