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Pastimes : Kosovo -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: goldsnow who wrote (5393)	4/25/1999 1:15:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 17770

Albanian smugglers get rich from Kosovo turmoil 03:05 a.m. Apr 25, 1999 Eastern By Julia Ferguson VLORE, Albania, April 25 (Reuters) - Agim likes to show off his gold tooth and recently he's had a lot to smile about. As hundreds of thousands of refugees flock into Albania to flee Serb atrocities against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, his smuggling racket of refugees across the Adriatic Sea to Italy has been run off its feet. ''Since NATO started bombing Serbia, business is better than ever. If the weather plays along, I'm doing two runs a day,'' the smuggler told Reuters over coffee in this southern city. Agim, which is not his real name, ferries his passengers on a rubber speedboat which can seat up to 30 people and pack speeds of 55 miles (90 km) per hour when the sea is calm. He charges around $500 per person for the 45-mile (70 km) trip that takes 90 minutes across the Otranto channel to southern Italy. On Saturday, Italian police picked up more than 400 illegal immigrants, most of them from Kosovo, who had arrived by boat. When traffic is heavy, Agim says he earns around $30,000 a month after settling overheads such as fuel, wages and kickbacks to local officials. This compares to a state salary of just $60. ''The sea is like heroin. Once you shoot up, you're hooked,'' the 40-year-old university graduate said. Vlore has long been the centre for smuggling migrants into Western Europe, and locals say that much of its wealth is generated from the trade. More than half a million emigrated from Europe's poorest country in 1991 and 1992 after the collapse of the hardline Stalinist dictatorship which ruled Albania for 46 years. The second exodus came two years ago when the bankruptcy of bogus get-rich-quick investment schemes pushed the country to the brink of economic and political collapse after many lost their life savings. The government in Tirana, a three-hour, bone-jarring drive north, has tried to crack down on the burgeoning clandestine racket at the behest of the Italians. It now no longer pays to ferry Albanian nationals, and smugglers only take Kosovar Albanians, fully aware that the Italian authorities will not send them back due to the situation in Yugoslavia. ''And the Albanians let them depart as they're pleased to be rid of the burden. But Albanians get sent back to Albania, which means we have to return their fare,'' Agim said. The boats, which are brought in from a secret mooring place, usually set off under cover of darkness but sometimes leave in broad daylight and in flagrant view of the Italian coastguard. ''Police don't bother us -- most are in the sack with us,'' Agim said. Those who aren't and interfere with the traffickers can fear reprisal. Police chief Sokol Korciu was abducted and roughed up by armed smugglers in retaliation for the seizure of their boats in a raid by Italian and Albanian police. He was released once they reclaimed their property. One Kosovo man, who works in Slovenia and returned to Albania to retrieve his family, says he has no choice but to charter a speedboat after exploring all legal channels in vain. ''I have to get my daughter to hospital in Slovenia. She's gone mad from the trauma she witnessed in Kosovo,'' he said. Some 10 percent of Vlore is directly employed in the trade, which is seen as a ''normal'' profession. Smugglers enjoy respect as the proceeds from one speedboat can feed 10 large families. ''People don't look at us askance. After all, we help people find a new life,'' Agim said. Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited.