Albania

Festim Lato, an Albanian politician recently found murdered in the Amsterdam-Rijn canal, had his own private army in the Gelderland village of Afferden, where he lived. Various Dutch authorities were aware of this, but did not intervene, the Telegraaf reports based on sources and its own research.

An exam assignment for Police Academy students in Rotterdam led to the arrest of a suspect who has an outstanding prison sentence of eight years in Albania. What the man was convicted of in the Balkan country, the police did no say, AD reports. 

For the assignment, the police officers in training organized a check on Willemsplein with the Tax Authority. In addition to the fugitive's arrest, the action also yielded over 57 thousand euros in outstanding debts, 10 fines, two confiscated knives, a confiscated firearm, and 13 confiscated cars.

Albanian criminals are increasingly playing leading roles in organized crime in Amsterdam, according to a so-called trend analysis by the Amsterdam police. They are mainly engaged in cocaine trafficking, but also in human trafficking and property fraud, NU.nl reports.

According to the police, these Albanian criminals lead the cocaine import from South America, the transhipment via the port of Rotterdam, and the further distribution to other European countries from Amsterdam. In addition to the Netherlands, Albanians are also very active in the drug trade in Great Britain.

Dutch harbors with ferries to England are increasingly faced with Albanians trying to secretly cross to the United Kingdom, according to the Volkskrant. Over the past few months, hundreds of Albanian stowaways were caught in IJmuiden, Hoek van Holland, Europoort and Vlissingen. 

While the number of caught stowaways is comparable to last year - 440 in the first half of this year - the proportion of Albanians among them is increasing steadily, especially in Hoek van Holland and Europoort. In those two ports 92 percent of the caught stowaways were Albanian. 

About a quarter of the people who submitted asylum application in the Netherlands during the first months of 2016 will likely be refused a residency permit and sent back to their home countries. This is because these people came from countries that are considered "safe" and therefore only qualify for refugee status in exceptional circumstances.

Amsterdam police tactical teams arrested three Albanian men in three different locations in the city, early on Monday morning. The three men are suspected of drug trafficking, police stated in a press release.

Two exhibition matches of Dutch football teams last week in Spain might have been fixed games, according to the analyses of a gambling expert and the International Center for Sport Security (ICSS). Most likely the teams, ADO Den Hague and SC Heerenveen, were not aware of the score manipulation, the analysts state.

More than 250 passengers are still awaiting rescue more than 24 hours after the outbreak of a fire on a ferry on the Adriatic Sea. The rescue services were working through the night, but the darkness and dense smoke hampered the work. There were 4 Dutch citizens on board the burning ferry.

Minister Ivo Opstelten (Security and Justice) has approved the extradition of Albanian murderer, but The Hague court ruled against his extradition on Tuesday and the Albanian will not be extradited.

Minister Frans Timmermans (Foreign Affairs) does not want to the "dirty work" for other European countries by prematurely opposing Albany's membership. He will look for allies within Europe to support his position.