The Italian police are investigating an incidence of two Iranians with German passports who were intercepted smuggling 3 vials of Astrazenica COVID-19 vaccine from Italy into Albania. The tiny amount (about 18 doses) indicates this is for personal use by somebody. The mystery of why the men travelled from Germany to Albania via Italy can be easily unlocked with the key knowledge that both men are long-term members of the MEK. With this knowledge it is possible to suggest that the vaccine was destined for the MEK leader Maryam Rajavi who was expelled from the EU to Albania three years ago.
Rajavi leads a cult with around 2,000 members, who live in a closed camp west of Tirana. The members in Camp Ashraf 3 have suffered many deaths due to COVID. From the start of the pandemic, MEK refused entry to the local authorities and medial teams who wanted to help prevent the spread of the virus and offer medical support to the camp residents. Currently it is not certain whether the residents of the camp have had access to vaccines, and if they have, what type.
However, MEK leader Maryam Rajavi and her acolytes do not live in the camp. Rajavi prefers more luxurious surroundings. No doubt she explains the necessity for her separate accommodation as a security issue – a claim simultaneously and equally insulting to Albania’s security services and the credulity of the members. Since she lives separate from the members, it is possible that Rajavi has ordered the vaccine for herself and her acolytes because she believes this is the most effective against the virus. Possibly other smugglers have brought Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vials too.
Of course, in the big picture, the personal whims of a cult leader in Albania may not seem important. But the incidence of smuggling by MEK members is a reminder of the nature of this group and its activities beyond political posturing. Over the past four decades MEK has morphed from a military terrorist entity to an intelligence propaganda entity. But while MEK has been exposed for click farm activity and expensive propaganda rallies, by far its most important activity is criminal in nature; the MEK is a mafia-type criminal organisation.
The two men used to smuggle the vaccine are 69 and 73 years old. With German passports, they qualify for pensions and state support. Why would they take part in criminal activity? Italian investigators will probably discover that as members of the MEK they do not have proper addresses, but live communally in Germany. They almost certainly do not have bank accounts or any assets to pay any possible fines. These two men should be enjoying a relaxing retirement, not used for criminal activity which they will not personally gain from. Such members of MEK are not paid or rewarded for their services, they are simply two of the tens of slave members owned by Rajavi.
Rajavi long ago gave up any hope of actively bringing about change in Iran. Over time, the MEK has shrunk and shrunk through deaths and abandonment until, now there are fewer than two thousand members trapped in the camp in Albania. Most of these are old and ailing with no ambition to ‘overthrow the Iranian regime in its entirety’, as Rajavi boasts. Instead, the MEK’s speciality is as an organised crime group which survives through criminal activity and sells its expertise to Iran’s enemies.
MEK criminal activity includes: people trafficking; smuggling – money, passports, jewellery, goods and even vaccines; money laundry (Saudi money was channelled via the MEK to fund the right-wing VOX Party in Spain); foreign money paid to warmongers in America to promote Saudi, Israeli and Neocon agendas; corruption of politicians to promote the MEK brand; corruption of media outlets to suppress criticism of MEK; and corruption of various officials to not apply laws and turn a blind eye to MEK activity.
The MEK has been enabled to act with impunity because its anti-Iran messaging suits so many of Iran’s enemies. Italian investigators who trace the smuggled vaccine “vials of the ABW4330 series expiring in July 2021” back from these Iranian men, will no doubt uncover the source of MEK’s criminal involvement in this activity. Whether they will be minded to act on their findings will involve a lot more than straightforward policing.