FBI Pursues Accused Albanian Mob Chieftan

Although still romanticized in films and television programs, the Italian-American mob is an ailing operation, wounded by decades of wiretaps, tough federal statutes and “stand-up guys” who -- when facing prison time –- opted to inform on former cohorts.

Meanwhile, other, more potent organizations have filled the void, consisting of mobsters from the former Soviet Union, Asia and immigrants from Albania, as well as Albanian sections of the former Yugoslavia.

“We’re still trying to learn about their culture and figure out what makes them tick,” James Farley, FBI supervisory special agent, and expert on organized crime, says of the Albanians.  “They’re difficult to infiltrate.”

Shawn Hall, an FBI agent who’s worked alongside Farley, out of the bureau’s Newark, NJ office, concedes that much of the bureau’s efforts had previously been too focused on La Cosa Nostra –- or LCN -– allowing Albanian crime groups to rise, with little scrutiny.

“We’re just now catching up with Albanian organized crime,” he says.

While Italian gangsters may be three or four generations removed from the old country, the Albanians grew up under brutal communist regimes, engaging in protracted blood feuds with rival clans, and subscribing to a strict code of silence that makes the Italian credo of omerta seem playful.

“The first generation Albanians have a tendency to be more violent” than American-born syndicates, claims Hall.

Another contrast can be found in the organization of the Albanian mob.

Unlike the Italians, who fall neatly into crime families, consisting of bosses, capos and soldiers, the Albanians tend to be less structured and harder to trace.

Conspirators will work together on specific schemes, then separate and align themselves with other felons. 

Leaders also fluctuate, depending on the crime.

But in 2005, the FBI, along with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), made one of its most significant inroads, launching Operation Black Eagle, named for the two-headed eagle on the Albanian flag.

Over a four-year period, investigators probed a number of loosely-connected enterprises in New York, New Jersey, Chicago and Philadelphia –- as well as Canada, the Netherlands, Albania and ethnic Albanian regions of Macedonia, Serbia and Kosovo.

Mob's Reputed Leaders Discovered

Remarkably, the FBI managed to plant an undercover agent in the Albanian-American underworld. “We were a little nervous at first,” says Farley, “because we know that they don’t take people well into their communities. It takes a long time to get their trust. In this case, we had the right person.”

The undercover was able to penetrate the closed society by boasting of both his criminal contacts, and ability to generate money.

As a result, the FBI says, the agent was eventually introduced to two of the more powerful men in the Albanian mob: New Jersey residents Myfit “Mike” Dika and a former gymnast named Kujtim “Timmy” Lika.

According to law enforcement sources, the Albanian-born Dika had endeared himself to the LCN after refusing to talk about associates in the Genovese crime family, following a drug bust.

Upon completing his ten year sentence, cops say, Dika was rewarded for his loyalty with a large payout – money promptly blown playing Texas Hold ‘Em.

“Our sense was that he was quite over-extended, to the point that even his closest associates wouldn’t loan him money,” Hall says.

Despite his outward air of respectability -- with a $1.5 million home in the quiet suburb of Wyckoff –- the cigar-smoking Dika appeared so strapped for cash that cops claim he’d occasionally refuse to pay a restaurant bill, slipping the waitress a tip instead.

Lika was also known to live on the fringes. “It’s not unusual for him to go 48 hours without sleep,” Hall says. “His days and nights are backwards.”

Fueled by coke and heroin, Lika could allegedly play blackjack and poker for days at a time, sometimes throwing down cash without bothering to glance at his hand.

“He didn’t care,” Hall said, “because he knew he had deeper pockets, and could outlast anybody.”

At one point, Dika and Lika became involved in a venture to purchase a restaurant in scenic Greenwood Lake, N.Y. In the end, though, the owner told AWW, the deal fell through after the reputed mobsters ran up a multitude of bills.

Police describe Lika as an illegal immigrant from the former Yugoslavian republic of Macedonia, rumored to have been involved in transporting prostitutes into Italy, and killing a fellow Albanian in a blood feud.

In the United States, he allegedly ran a travel agency, using the Hawala system to funnel money to a sister office in Macedonia.

As with terrorists, investigators maintain, this system is often used to transfer drug profits without leaving a paper trail.

Ultimately, police say, Lika gained a reputation as the first major Albanian-American heroin dealer on U.S. soil.

As a team, investigators claim, Lika and Dika headed an operation that shipped everything from heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and Oxycontin to firearms and steroids to bootleg sneakers and cigarettes, hiding cash in truck transmissions, furniture and other receptacles.

Cops: Shady Characters Caught In The Act

With his large Rolex watch and jewelry, Dika usually stood out more than Lika, who police say avoided discussing his criminal activities to anyone but his closest associates.

Nonetheless, he allowed the undercover into his circle, investigators say, because of the agent’s ability to impress his targets with promises of future windfalls.

In particular, cops say, the duo expected the undercover help them transport an incredible 100 kilos of cocaine or heroin into the United States. “They wanted to get it distributed,” Farley explains, “which would bring in a couple of million dollars.

“I think their plan was to do that one big deal, and retire.”

Because of this, Lika dispensed with his usual caution and was caught on surveillance tape, allegedly chopping up heroin for the undercover, while Dika puffed on a cigar nearby.

In March 2009, Operation Black Eagle came to an end when authorities zoned in on some two dozen defendants in New York and New Jersey, seizing, among other items, a Bentley and two airplanes.

Incredibly, Lika and Dika managed to escape the dragnet.

According to one report, both men were later seen in Toronto.

On Jan. 25, 2010, Myfit Dika was arrested in Toronto.