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Mexico plunges into war after the murder of the cartel leader/ Local media: Albanian Luftar Hysa is also suspected of being linked to El Mencho
2026-02-23 11:27:48 / AKTUALITET
A wave of violence has swept Mexico after the killing of a cartel leader. El Mencho was the most wanted drug lord in his country.
He died during clashes between his cartel, the Jalisco New Generation (CJNG), and military forces. The CJNG is known as the most powerful and violent cartel in the country, recently surpassing Sinaloa.
But in the meantime, in an article from September 2022, the Mexican newspaper 'El Universal' wrote that in addition to Sinaloa, this cartel is also suspected of having links to the Albanian mafia. Among other things, the article also mentions the Hysa family, whose head, Luftar Hysa, has been in Edi Rama's office.
Below is the full article from the Mexican newspaper:
The tentacles of Mexican cartels have already reached the Balkan countries in Eastern Europe, where they found a favorable terrain for laundering money from their illegal activities, because the economies and law enforcement agencies are considered weak.
Federal intelligence authorities discovered that Ismael Zambada García, known by the nickname El Mayo, leader of a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, formed an alliance with the Albanian mafia to launder millions of dollars in businesses, properties and investments in the coastal tourism sector.
In particular, they identified that El Mayo established ties with the Luftar brothers — Arben, Fatos, and Ramiz Hysa — an Albanian criminal group under the watch of financial authorities for significant illegal financial activities in the tourism and casino sectors in both Mexico and Albania.
According to intelligence sources consulted by EL UNIVERSAL, the four Albanians own a network of casinos and businesses in Sonora, Baja California and Quintana Roo, where they laundered millions of dollars from organized crime, along with lawyers and front figures.
Furthermore, they invest large amounts of money in Albania to launder it, in investments focused on gambling activities and the tourism sector.
Currently, according to federal authorities, Albanians are running an operation on behalf of the Sinaloa Cartel to transfer millions of dollars to their country through front companies.
The links between Mexican cartels and Albanian drug trafficking and money laundering groups were not known until now, according to the intelligence authorities consulted.
The connection between El Mayo Zambada and the Albanian mafia represents an opportunity for Mexican criminal groups to expand their operations in Albania, a small former communist country, fueled by money from illegal activities. Intelligence officials point out that Mexican cartels are constantly expanding beyond the country's borders, reaching as far as Europe and Asia.
In European Union countries, such as the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Malta, in addition to cocaine, they have begun to control, traffic and process synthetic drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine, which are considered the most sought-after on the international market.
Investigations conducted in 2018 by Dutch police show that the ports of this European country remain the main entry point for Mexican criminal organizations into the European Union, where they have already set up their laboratories for the production of synthetic drugs.
In a joint investigation concluded in December last year, Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese police arrested a Beltrán Leyva Cartel cell in Barcelona and Tarragona, which processed methamphetamine in Spain and the Netherlands.
This group also aimed to launder the money earned from this illegal activity, so it created a money laundering network that started in Spain, passed through the Netherlands, Portugal, Hong Kong, Turkey, and ended in Mexico.
According to international investigations, Beltrán Leyva's cell circulated millions of euros in the international financial system for money laundering activities.
Intelligence sources say the money was laundered through casinos, which were set up and invested in European countries where the rule of law is weak.
At the time of the capture, the cell members were found in possession of a large amount of money and chemicals used to produce synthetic drugs.
Mexican cartels aim to invest the proceeds of criminal activities in countries where law enforcement remains weak, mainly in Eastern European countries, such as Albania.
Intelligence sources mention that this Albanian group is also linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), led by Michoacán drug trafficker Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as El Mencho, but additional evidence is still being sought.
Before the alliance with Ismael Zambada García, El Mayo, Albanian organized crime had only ties to Colombian and Ecuadorian traffickers in Latin America.
By creating this new relationship, Mexican cartels will aim to expand, especially when it comes to profits and money laundering from casinos, which in most cases remain uncontrolled or cannot be fully controlled by the governments of those countries.
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