Narcoterrorism in Southeastern Europe

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The dramatic attack against the United States on September 11, 2001, besides its tragic consequences in terms of the loss of human lives and material damage, constituted a wake-up call for the international community regarding the spectacular dimension and the new form that international terrorism had assumed. After that event, huge efforts on the part of national and international actors were directed towards defeating this global peril. Yet one aspect of the fight against terrorism seems to be overlooked: the connection between terrorism and organized crime. The magnitude of the organized crime phenomenon in southeastern Europe, the presence of well-established networks, and the huge profits obtained through organized criminal activities—especially drug trafficking, the financial backbone of most criminal organizations—all make organized crime and narcotics dealing very attractive activities for terrorists and terrorist groups. Given the efforts of the international community after September 11 to freeze the funds and assets of Al Qaeda or Al Qaeda-related terrorist groups, it is very likely that we will witness an increase of these groups’ involvement in organized crime activities in order to raise new funds. However, raising money for mounting new attacks, or for maintaining their infrastructure, recruiting and training new members, etc., although very important, are not the only reasons for terrorist groups’ participation in organized crime. Equally important are the well-organized networks that are already in use by criminal groups, which could be exploited by terrorist individuals or organizations for extending their infrastructure; recruiting new members; moving people, equipment, and funds without being detected; and establishing new instruction bases. Southeastern Europe is characterized by a high level of organized criminal activity, especially drug trafficking, along with some presence of terrorist groups, including Al Qaeda (mainly in the Western Balkans). In this context, it is hard to believe—and it would be a mistake to consider—that terrorist groups would not make use of the networks of criminal activity that already exist in the region. Therefore, this analysis will offer a brief assessment of the dimension of drug trafficking activity in southeastern Europe and an examination of the possible connections between this criminal activity and its networks and terrorism, based on the imperative that the region, mainly the Western Balkans, should not be allowed to become a “safe haven” for terrorists.