Organised crime in Western Balkans Six at the onset of coronavirus

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the consequences of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) into crime-fighting and present new criminal landscapes in the Western Balkans Six (WB6) (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia) at the beginning of the pandemic crisis.Design/methodology/approachThe paper builds on the content analysis of legal acts, strategic documents, academic articles, media reporting, official documents, four semi-structured interviews with civil society organisations, two consultations with police officers and two consultations with civil society organisations.FindingsIn the first nine weeks of the spread of COVID-19, the WB6 experienced a small rise in the price of marijuana. The same applied to stimulant drugs like ecstasy and amphetamines. However, very little heroin was available. Prices of protective face masks, disinfectants and medicinal alcohol skyrocketed due to attempts at price gouging. There were cases of scams using mobile and digital technologies, as well as burglaries of newspaper or cigarette kiosks, shops, pharmacies and exchange offices. It was difficult to determine whether the smuggling of and trafficking in human beings experienced a decline or increase. No cases of sexual exploitation for providing online services were noted, although the number of calls made to organisations that assist in the area of human trafficking increased. People with drug and alcohol problems, persons living with HIV, those susceptible to stress, citizens with mental health problems, pensioners, the poor, the homeless and recently released prisoners were the biggest potential victims of crime at the onset of the crisis brought by the pandemic.Research limitations/implicationsThe research findings are limited to specific forms of crime (illicit drug trade, economic crime, fraud, scams, theft, smuggling of and trafficking in human beings) in the WB6 and based on findings from four interviews and four consultations, together with available secondary data.Originality/valueThis is the first overview of criminal activities occurring in the WB6 during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

The Effect of Covid-19 in Western Balkan Societies: Analyzing the Health Care System Economy

“…Besides, the economic gap came in when the health care facilities were unable to pay the health care workers, forcing some of them to abandon the patients to seek alternative sources of income [19]. While many health care institutions lowered the wage rates for the employees, others froze the income completely, leaving the workers with no option but to seek an alternative source of livelihood [20].…”

COVID-19 and Organized Crime: Strategies employed by criminal groups to increase their profits and power in the first months of the pandemic

“…Finally, on the basis of content analysis of legal acts, strategic documents, academic papers, media reporting, official documents, and interviews with police officers and representatives of civil society organizations, Djordjević and Dobovšek ( 2020 ) have investigated how COVID-19 has impacted crime and crime-fighting in the Western Balkans. The authors show that, in the first nine weeks of the spread of COVID-19, the Western Balkans experienced a small rise in the price of cannabis, ecstasy, and amphetamines, which remained available; by contrast, the supply of heroin decreased.…”

Občina Ljutomer – s pametnim prometnim načrtovanjem do varnejšega in prijaznejšega življenjskega okolja

“…4. za leti 2019 in 2020 Izziv, s katerim se moramo soočiti v prihodnosti, je nedvomno kibernetska kriminaliteta. Trend se ne bo samo nadaljeval, temveč se bo tudi povečal, saj se je veliko sistemov v tem času premaknilo na splet, napadalci pa bodo le še okrepili svoje dejavnosti in razvili naprednejše metode (Bizovičar, 2020;Djordjević in Dobovšek;I. K., 2020).…”