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Amphora .alDecember 23, 2024ALBANIA | KOSOVO | SERBIA By Geri Emiri, Ingrid Gercama, Nathalie Bertrams and Vjosa Çerkini
An illegal tiger and lion trafficking ring is developing in the Balkans through pet shops and TikTok, as keeping them is becoming a trend among crime bosses. In Albania alone, it is thought that there are around 90 tigers and lions, while the facts show that the entire Balkans is “infected” by the desire to illegally own a big cat.
Illustrative graphics by Media Amfora
The iconic character of the movie “Scarface”, Tony Montana, masterfully played by actor Al Pacino, at the height of his reign in Miami as the leader of the cocaine network, was not satisfied with just building a villa that looked more like a royal palace.
In its lobby, a red neon sign with the inscription, “The World Is Yours” shone above a fountain. As visitors entered, they were greeted by a tiger that gazed out over the green garden.
These Hollywood scenes from 1983 continue to inspire organized crime, so much so that the “king of gambling in Albania”, Ervis Martinaj, allegedly built a similar palace, which he christened “Arbëria Palace” and under the bright neon, “The World Is Yours”, decided to pose his lion that had just started walking.
Baptized as “King Simba” and with the suffix “007”, which seemed to represent Martinaj, he first appeared on TikTok on December 21, 2021. The audience of the cub, who is thought to have arrived there at 3 months old, grew week after week, appearing from the first days with a bottle of milk, to poses in the luxurious surroundings of the “Arbëria Palace” Hotel, in Fushë-Milot.
“Simba is now quite big, about 1 meter tall,” one of the waiters at the hotel bar said with a smile. His account has stopped posting since Martinaj himself disappeared under still unclear circumstances, leaving behind scenarios similar to the end of the character he wanted to resemble, Tony Montana.
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