Man nabbed in California drug bust
allegedly has ties to criminals in Kosovo
By Rick Scavetta,
Stars and Stripes
PRISTINA, Kosovo — When federal agents linked a man arrested on drug charges in
California with Kosovo drug smuggling, it raised a few eyebrows among United Nations
police.
But U.N. police won’t launch an investigation into the alleged ties Derek Meyer
Galanis, of Del Mar, Calif., has to the Kosovo crime world unless they are formally asked,
U.N. police spokesman Barry Fletcher said.
Federal authorities arrested Galanis, 29, last week after Drug Enforcement
Administration agents raided what they called the most sophisticated Ecstasy drug lab ever
found in the United States.
The lab, hidden inside an Internet pornography business in Escondido, Calif., was
capable of producing up to 1.5 million Ecstasy pills per month, authorities said. The bust
came before the dealers could distribute the drugs.
During the investigation, federal officials listening to Galanis on a wiretap heard him
making reference to links in the Kosovo crime world.
It’s difficult for authorities in Kosovo to react to news from California, more
than 7,000 miles away, Fletcher said. In fact, an Associated Press report Friday was the
first U.N. officials heard of Galanis’ alleged connection to criminals in Kosovo.
"His name doesn’t ring a bell," Fletcher said. "If we got a
request, we would address it, but we’re not going to initiate an investigation based
on a news story."
During a bail hearing Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Robinson said Galanis was
an active member of the Ecstasy ring and that he was videotaped transporting chemicals
used to make the drug.
Robinson also disclosed wiretaps that he said link Galanis to drug smuggling in Kosovo.
In a recorded phone conversation with the alleged drug ringleader, Galanis said he needed
the "general" so he could "smuggle his own drug," according to an
affidavit filed by federal authorities.
Agents believe Galanis was referring to a general in the former Kosovo Liberation Army,
the rebel force that fought for independence in Kosovo that disbanded shortly after NATO
arrived in 1999.
Although U.N police are not planning to look into any connections Galanis had to
Kosovo, Fletcher said the news will get passed on to U.N. police intelligence officers who
watch organized crime in the province.
U.N. police are not on the lookout for anyone going by the nickname
"general," Fletcher said. Assuming the man from Galanis’ conversation is a
real person, he could be any of a number of former KLA members with links to the criminal
underworld, police said.
Of nearly 4,500 U.N. police serving in Kosovo, about 600 are police officers from the
United States. One of the most common crimes is drug smuggling. But most of the time that
means either marijuana or heroin, not Ecstasy, Fletcher said.
"Ecstasy is not in common use among people in Kosovo," Fletcher said.
"That doesn’t mean it’s not being pushed through the pipeline."
Michael Pancer, the San Diego attorney defending Galanis, said in a telephone interview
Friday that his client has no ties to Kosovo, where Galanis worked for several months last
year at a U.N.-licensed business.
Several American entrepreneurs sought customers in Kosovo in the past two years,
Fletcher said. Those include legitimate travel and real estate agencies, and a restaurant,
he said.
"Kosovo has nothing to do with this," Pancer said. "He [Galanis] was
working selling insurance there."
Pancer denied that Galanis was involved in drug smuggling in Kosovo and said the
prosecutor added facts from Galanis’ past to solidify the case against him.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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