Some 60 Albanians arrested for organized crime in Amsterdam area

So far this year the Amsterdam police arrested 60 Albanians on suspicion of serious drug trafficking and money laundering from expensive apartments scattered throughout the Dutch capital. Cocaine, automatic firearms and several million euros in cash were confiscated, Het Parool reports. According to the newspaper, two detective teams - a regular team and a financial economic team - and the Amsterdam municipality have been working closely together on a four month long investigation into the influx of criminal Albanians in the city. Based on this investigation, the police raided dozens of luxury apartments in the city. Ten of the apartments were boarded up for at least three months. The owners of ten others were given warnings. The police also raided a large garage in Badhoevedorp where drugs are placed in hidden compartments in cars. During the raids, the police found 200 kilograms of cocaine and nearly three million euros in cash. A sniffer dog found 1.4 million euros of cash in hidden compartments in a Saab pulled over on Borneolaan. Most of the raided buildings contained cocaine, some also contained heroin, tens of thousands of euros in cash and firearms. In a large police action during the last week of August, the police arrested 19 suspects in various places in Amsterdam, 17 of them are still in custody. It started with a raid in a home on Het Laagt in Amsterdam Noord on August 22nd. There the police arrested five Albanians and a Romanian and seized about 60 kilograms of narcotics. Later that week thirteen other homes were raided and drugs and money were found and seized. The police arrested more Albanians, another Romanian, two Dominicans and a Greek woman. One of the suspects was an undocumented migrant.