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07/26/2006: Bulgaria and Greece Achieve Results in Major Narcotics Operation; Turkish Role Again Questioned

07/26/2006: Bulgaria and Greece Achieve Results in Major Narcotics Operation; Turkish Role Again Questioned

(Balkanalysis.com Security & Intelligence Brief 8)  A recent week-long drug-enforcement operation involving 12 Eastern European countries in cooperation with the US Drug Enforcement Administration has resulted in a series of major seizures, with Bulgaria achieving the most spectacular results, reported the Sofia News Agency on July 21.

The operation, called Containment V, involved the law-enforcement and customs ministries of Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, and Turkey.

The news agency claimed that Bulgaria “topped the list� seizing 35 kilos of ecstasy and 10 kilos of heroin between July 10-17. Greece also reported significant action including a bust of 141 kilos of cannabis. According to the report, “a total of 16 individuals were arrested and many various narcotics seized in the joint operation of 12 countries.�

The location of both prominent seizures is telling in regards to the endemic routes of drug transshipment from Central Asia to the Balkans- Turkey. Powerful Kurdish and Turkish gangs have long had a major role in transporting Afghan heroin to the West, through the Turkic republics of Central Asia and Chechnya, in collusion with their Albanian partners in Macedonia and Kosovo. The industry is worth billions and has been used to finance not only lavish lifestyles but more, ominously, criminally-connected political actors and terrorists.

A recent article on Counterpunch, referring to the case of former FBI translator and whistleblower Sibel Edmonds, scrutinizes the Turkish ‘deep state’ involvement in drug smuggling- with, allegedly, cooperation from crooked American politicians and non-profit lobbying organizations.

The article refers to the case of Kurdish trafficking kingpin Huseyin Baybasin who, according to the Guardian, “…alleged that he had received the assistance of Turkish embassies and consulates while moving huge consignments of drugs around Europe, and that Turkish army officers serving with Nato in Belgium were also involved. ‘The government kept all doors open for us,’ he said. ‘We could do as we pleased.’�

An upcoming Balkanalysis.com Security & Intelligence Brief will focus on changing drug routes in Albania and Macedonia (again, involving Turkey), emerging patterns of consumption and more, with the input of our exclusive sources.