The Macedonian mafia (Macedonian: Македонска мафија, romanized: Makedonska mafija) is a body of illegal gangs and criminal organizations operating in North Macedonia and within the Macedonian diaspora.

The organizations are primarily involved in smuggling, arms trafficking, drug trafficking, heists, protection rackets, and illegal gambling. The mafia comprises several major organized groups, which in turn have wider networks in Macedonia and throughout Europe.

History

As far back as the 1880s, Macedonian opium poppy had an international reputation for being of high quality, owing to the region's particular environmental conditions. From 1918–1941, the production of opium in present-day North Macedonia satisfied 43% of the demand from the global legal processing industry.^[2] Between 1927 and 1939, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (which encompassed present-day North Macedonia) produced an average of 42 tons of opium per year, worth around 29 million dinars, which corresponded to the average annual revenue of the province of Vardarska Banovina. Between eight and ten tons of opium were smuggled into Yugoslavia every year. Therefore, it is estimated that almost a quarter of the legally produced opium ended up in the illegal trafficking market. Criminal organizations in the cities of Belgrade and Skopje were also associated with prominent European smuggling networks that facilitated illegal exports of opium and its derivatives. In 1937, the United States and other countries in the League of Nations pressured the Yugoslav government to take action against the drug smuggling industry, and the problem diminished temporarily. ^[3]

In 2006, Macedonian police seized five vehicles at the Macedonia-Albania border in a raid on a human-smuggling gang. One of the vehicles was suspected, but not confirmed, to be David Beckham's luxury SUV, which had been stolen from him in Madrid, Spain where Beckham played for Real Madrid.^[4][5]

On 7 January 2007, a truck carrying a shipment of 486 kg of cocaine from Venezuela to Greece was stopped at the Blace border crossing. The value of the seized drug shipment was 92 million euros. The driver of the truck, Alija Azirović, and Macedonian businesswoman Stanislava Chochorovska Poletan were both arrested, tried, and sentenced to 14.5 years prison time.^[6][7]

From 2007–2010, police from Austria, Germany, and Macedonia conducted a series of raids against a Macedonia-based crime organization known as the "Frankfurt mafia". The largest of these raids was conducted 21–22 December 2010, and resulted in the arrests of approximately 100 people. During the entire three-year operation, approximately 400 people were arrested, of which 29 were arrested in Macedonia.^[8][9]

In 2019, the Italian police dismantled a scheme created by the Macedonian mafia that falsified documents and "encouraged" Macedonians to go and work for them in Italy. The group was based in the city of Alba in the Northern Italian region of Piedmont.^[10]

On 6 December 2020, two tons of marijuana packed in 200 boxes were stolen from a licensed cannabis oil production plant in Josifovo. On 7 December 2020, the stolen goods were found in Arachinovo. The estimated value of the goods was 6 million euros, or as much as 10 million if sold in the form of cannabis oil.^[11]

On 6 April 2021, a scandal was revealed concerning the Interior Ministry having issued passports to high-profile criminals from around the world. Nine Macedonian civil servants were arrested in Skopje for involvement in the scandal. Between 2017 and 2021, the Interior Ministry issued passports with false names to at least 215 people.^[12][13]

Today, high-activity cities for organized crime in North Macedonia include Skopje, Veles, Shtip, and Kočani. The border crossings of Bogorodica (on the Macedonia–Greece border), Jažince (on the Macedonia–Kosovo border), and the tri-border area between North Macedonia, Kosovo, and Serbia see high activity as well. The main goods subject to illegal trading are food, gold, jewelry, cigarettes, and drugs. Concerning drugs specifically, the most actively traded are Albanian cannabis via the Preshevo Valley, heroin that comes from Turkey to Bulgaria, and cocaine from Serbia. There is also speculation that synthetic drugs are manufactured in Tetovo, following the discovery there of an illegal laboratory resulting in the confiscation of 300 kilograms of amphetamine pills. The Tetovo region, as well as the villages of Vaksince and Lojane, are known to be centers for migrant trafficking. ^[14]

Groups

• Frankfurt mafia
• Naserligan

Key people