Say what you will about Bashkim Osmani — and police recently revealed they have a lot to say —
he nevertheless owns a very nice restaurant, beside a marina on a Mediterranean island,
especially if you have four grand to drop on a top-shelf bottle of Champagne. It might have made
officers hungry or thirsty while they searched his place. Police also tossed his luxury hotel, other
businesses, and his island mansion in raids spanning seven countries, coordinated by investigators
alleging Bashkim Osmani sits atop one of the most active drug trafficking organizations in Europe
The Mob Reporter here with news on an important drugs and money case targeting a well-heeled
Balkan cartel that flooded Europe with cocaine. If allegations are true, it paints a clear picture of
the modern face of a transnational crime group. Let me tell you about it. Osmani was arrested recently
in Croatia and extradited back to the Spanish island of Mallorca; it's a tourist hot spot. The
police theory is that an Albanian-speaking cartel imported large quantities of cocaine from South
America, arriving into Europe by sea hidden in shipping containers at ports in Belgium,
Netherlands, France and Germany. The cartel controlled the entire supply chain, investigators
said. Once in Europe, it moved the cargo far and wide by road and by air — using both cargo planes
and, in a sign of its financial resources, by private jets. This is something we've seen
before by the Balkan cartels, including back in 2018 and 2019 when they were hit with arrests. The
arrests of a big cheese back then launched the new probe, the one that snagged Osmani and 44 others
In Belgium, prosecutors said the cartel's presence was discovered in 2020 after a police search of
a garage in Brussels found a large quantity of drugs and, alarmingly, counterfeit police uniforms
Investigators linked it to an Eastern European crime group living in Brussels that had hooked
up to work with the so-called Limburg mafia, a Southern European crime group operating where
Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands meet. Belgium and Spanish authorities learned
they were investigating the same bunch of suspects and started working together
A year ago, the probe grew exponentially after authorities hacked into the Sky ECC encrypted
phone service. This was a communications system that criminals trusted to provide them with utmost
secrecy. By breaching the encryption investigators read and tracked messages connecting importers to
suppliers in Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, and Paraguay. Police also tracked suspects flying
back and forth to Dubai, Mexico, and Colombia. They uncovered a sprawling intricate criminal
web. And a large global investigation rose to tackle it. On February 15, 2022, more than
100 coordinated police raids were launched in seven countries, including investigators in Spain,
Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, and Croatia. It was helped by the FBI in America, the NCA
in Britain, and the European Union's police agency EUROPOL. In Belgium, 30 people were arrested after
49 raids, mostly in Brussels and Antwerp, the major port. In Spain, eight people were arrested, in Italy
anti-Mafia police searched a hotel in Prato and an apartment in Florence, both owned by Albanians
The 56-year-old Bashkim Osmani was named the main target. Now something must be made clear: Osmani's
lawyer said his client denies the allegations, and none of the charges have been tested in court
Jaime Campaner, a lawyer with one of Spain's top law firms specializing in white-collar
crime, told me his client hasn't even been told the details of what he is accused of.
Quote: "It is not possible to defend oneself in the nebula, we demand clear facts precise accusations
and that we be told what the evidence against him would be which we deny exists," unquote
He suggested Osmani was targeted because of his obvious wealth
He told me, quote: "Being prosperous in business cannot be criminalized," unquote
Everyone agrees Osmani is rich. It's been obvious for years — but that may be the only undisputed fact
It was a luxurious ride for police on these raids, hitting top hotels, restaurants, and a
lovely mansion. It's policing in paradise. He has a small chain of four-star hotels the name B.O.
seems a curious choice until you'll realize it's Bashkim Osmani's initials and not, you know, "body
odor." There is the hotel in Palma, the capital of Mallorca, another in Hamburg, Germany, which was the
family's adopted home, and a third on the Croatian coast, in Poreč, another tourist hot spot
In fact, it was here where Osmani was arrested, traveling on a Croatian passport. His primary
residence these days is in Mallorca, in a mansion which hosted his wedding not too long ago
It was an exhausting search of his large home. As we can see
a safe inside Osmani's home was particularly difficult to crack
Apparently his in-laws and wife were there when police came. That might make for an awkward family
dinner down the road, but a family reunion will have to wait. For now, he remains in jail
Authorities allege tens of millions of dollars were laundered on the island
through real estate, expensive works of art, wine, luxury vehicles, jewelry, and cryptocurrencies
In Hamburg, the Osmani brothers longtime home, police raided seven properties. Osmani emigrated
to Germany with several brothers in the late 1970s as Kosovar Albanians from what was then Yugoslavia
Their startling financial success attracted attention and suspicion. Germany's Der Spiegel
news magazine said the oldest brother once drove a truck collecting used clothing
and later switched to a flashy Ferrari. The brothers built a formidable financial empire
there, with large real estate holdings and more than a dozen nightclubs, including a
landmark waterfront pub that was particularly popular. After two weeks in prison in Croatia,
Osmani was extradited to Mallorca under heavy guard and taken to court in a police convoy, where he
faces charges of money laundering and criminal organization. Despite the nature of the probe
he has not been charged with a drug offense. We'll watch to see how the case unfolds. Police analysts
say this probe unmasks the face of the modern underworld: moving away from clan- or family-
based gangs to cooperative ventures; homogenized transnational criminal groups reaching further
moving faster and working more cooperatively than ever before. Globalization, corporatization
and agility are their watchwords. Like Big Business, gangsters are knitting together
their own expertise and their own needs with those of others around the world. And after
their deals are done, they all run off with bags of cash to invest in safe assets in safe places
And police say that Majorca was perfect for that — until now. Thanks for watching and please subscribe