Kosovska Mitrovica, Kosovo - In Kosovo, the gulf between
majority Albanians and minority Serbs is nowhere more visible than in
the divided town of Kosovska Mitrovica.
But that hasn't stopped the town from being a magnet for criminals
of all backgrounds willing to work together for an illicit buck.
Kosovska Mitrovica, 50 kilometres north-west of the Kosovo's
capital Pristina, is a no-holds-barred frontier town without proper
police or courts.
It is split in half by the ethnic division that sheared Kosovo away
from its Serbian past earlier this year - the part of the town north
of the Ibar river is the de-facto capital of the Serb enclave of North
Kosovo, which wants no part of the independence the south of Kosovo
has claimed for itself.
In the political vacuum, however, Albanian and Serbian gangs have,
in a way, bridged the divide and work with ease across the Ibar
running drugs, people, prostitutes, guns and most recently, fuel.
The general population meanwhile stays put in its respective part
of Kosovo - the 2 million Albanians in three-quarters of Kosovo south
of Ibar, the 40,000 Serbs in and around Mitrovica, in their quarter to
the north, along the border with Serbia proper.
'I set a new personal best and drove the car 15 times in from
northern Mitrovica,' Albanian Armend boasts to friends in a cafe and
calls the next round of drinks for all. 'I spent 150 euros (213
dollars) and raked in 3,000, not bad, eh?'
Armend, 34, is just one of a multitude of jobless Kosovars. He has
chosen to make a living by smuggling fuel from the Serbia, where he
can buy unleaded Serbian-made benzine without taxes for just 50 euro-
cents per litre.
The border zone between Serbia and Kosovo is off limits to anybody
but NATO KFOR peacekeepers, whose job description does not include
chasing smugglers.
Armand's car, as others coming in to a north-Mitrovica petrol
station, is packed to the roof with barrels, canisters and bottles for
up to 2,000 litres of fuel.
Before selling it to gas stations in southern Mitrovica for 90
euro-cents per litre and making up to 800 euros on one run, he must
bribe the police guarding the bridge between the two sections to let
him pass.
The policeman will look away from a car and forget to wonder what
may be inside for 10 euros, Armend says. 'He plucks no less than 150
euros out of thin air each shift,' another smuggler chimes in. 'The
300-euro monthly salary is just a cherry on top.'
The Serbian fuel is eventually sold to Kosovo Albanians for 1 euro
per litre close to Mitrovica or up to 1.15 euros per litre in
Pristina, costing the budget 3 million euros in lost taxes monthly,
according to estimates by European Union officials,
Drivers in Serbia proper pay 1.34 euros for that same petrol,
though now it has dawned on Kosovar smugglers to re-export Serbian
fuel back across the boundary and sell it back to Serbs, which may
drive the price up for Albanians.
The supremo of the fuel trade in northern Mitrovica is a Serb known
as 'Zvonko,' whom Armend describes as 'my brother.' Zvonko's blessing
is the seal necessary for any deal involving petrol.
Despite recounting the 'technical' part of their work, neither
Armend nor anybody else in the cafe would say anything about payoffs
to political leaders - which, considering the magnitude of the
business, must be a given.
Last week six customs officials, including one high-ranking
executive, were arrested under accusations of allowing organized crime
to smuggle fuel across the border with Macedonia - only there it was
tankers, not cars, that were being waived through.
At the same time, the chief of UN police in Mitrovica was sacked,
with a dry explanation that the measure was 'disciplinary,' fueling
speculation of a crackdown on the Kosovo 'fuel mafia.'
So while hatred and the mistrust continue between Serbs and
Albanians, which politicians do little to remove, cross-ethnic
'business' alliances are thriving.
USA
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