SYRI TV / How Rama Defended the 'Hysas' Three Years Ago. The Hysa Brothers' Links to the Sinaloa Cartel

Three years ago, Prime Minister Edi Rama dismissed as slander the reporting by Mexican media about the Hysa brothers' alleged ties to the Sinaloa drug cartel. During a press conference at the time, Rama also defended his own meeting with Luftar Hysa, accusing Mexican outlets of smearing innocent people.

Below is the report prepared by Syri TV three years ago.

At today's press conference, Prime Minister Rama again attempted to justify his meeting with the Hysa brothers, whom Mexican media describe as having connections to the Sinaloa cartel. According to foreign outlets, Sinaloa cartel money is laundered in Albania through investments along the coast. The Albanian prime minister, however, insists that these international reports are fabrications.

Rama has responded to the latest article published in the Mexican press, which claims that the notorious Sinaloa cartel launders drug money in Albania through the Hysa brothers. Meanwhile, Albanian media have published photos showing the accused individuals, described as linked to Sinaloa, being received at the Prime Minister's Office and even meeting with Rama himself. But the prime minister told reporters that the Mexican media are "throwing mud on innocent people."

In trying to disprove the Mexican media's reporting, that the Sinaloa cartel launders money in Albania with the help of the Hysa brothers, one of whom was photographed entering the Prime Minister's Office, Rama appeared to rely on a misleading comparison, juxtaposing Germany's GDP with the cartel's assets.

Germany's GDP is public information, calculated at around $3.806 trillion. Bloomberg estimates that the wealth of "El Mayo," the head of the Sinaloa cartel, is roughly $3 billion, far smaller than the figures Rama attempted to imply.

Still, such explanations have by now become standard for the prime minister, who has previously defended other individuals who today are convicted and serving prison sentences.