In short, it reacted to
changing fortunes by creating a bureaucracy. Concurrently, it armed
itself to its teeth with more sophisticated weapons than ever before
(though it was still short of medical supplies, ammunition and
communications equipment). The KLA now had shoulder-fired anti-tank
rocket launchers (like the German "Armburst"), mortars, recoilless
rifles, anti-aircraft machine-guns and automatic assault rifles.
Some of the weapons were even bought from Serb army officers or
imported through Hungary. All this required a financial phase
transition. That the KLA has benefited, directly and knowingly, from
money tainted by drug trafficking and smuggling of both goods and
people across borders - can be in little doubt. But I find the
proposition that the KLA itself has traded in drugs unlikely. The
long-established Albanian clans which control the "Balkan Route" -
the same clans that faced down the fearsome Turkish gangs on their
own turf - would have never let an upstart such as the KLA take over
any of their territory and its incumbent profits.
The KLA might have traded weapons. It might have dabbled in
smuggling. It might have received donations from drug lords. In
this, it is no different from all major modern guerilla movements.
But it did not peddle drugs - not because of moral scruples but
because of the lethal competition it would have encountered.
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