Do contract killers (also known as hitmen) really exist?

They exist in many Eastern European countries. Five years ago, the Police Directorate of Albania published a list of 38 people that were working as professional hitmen.

The most known of them was Julian Sinanaj. Unlike most other Albanian professional killers, this one got caught by the police and confessed. Even better, he wrote notes about his “jobs” and the police found them. Through his notes and his confession, the public learned a lot about the job of a professional killer:

Techniques and “styles”

Most Albanian hitmen prefer to use a pistol with a sound suppressor. However, in the recent past, there were also a lot of assassinations with explosives. Since the breakdown of public order during the 1997 unrest, large quantities of weapons and explosives have found their way from the Albanian army’s storage depots into the hands of the civilian population. Since then, public order has been restored, but the military hardware is still out there.

Pay

According to Albanian newspapers, the pay for a “hit” ranges between 5,000 and 150, 000 Euros (5,700 to 180,000 US-Dollars). However, a lot depends on the ‘target’ and the expertise and experience of the killer. Killing a judge, a high ranking police officer or a politician is usually more expensive than ordering a hit on a private person. Julian Sinanaj, for example, was paid 160, 000 Euros for the hit on an Albanian businessman while for his first job, a fisherman in his home village, he received only 5,000 Euros. Most hitmen can also be hired for other jobs that do not primarily involve killing, Some of them are also experts for kidnappings, armed robbery and a wide range of other violent crimes.

Profession: killer. Julian Sinanaj during a court appearance. He was eventually sentenced to 35 years in prison for multiple murders.

Professionalism

Most of the Albanian hitmen are quite effective in what they are doing. Cases where someone is caught are relatively rare. They are highly successful, rarely miss their targets, and don’t make many mistakes.

Mob connections

Most professional hitmen in Albania belong to family clans which are comparable to the Italian Mafia. This doesn’t mean, however, that they only kill for their clan. Most of them can be hired by anyone who is able to pay their price. Additionally, they are often hired to kill people in other countries. There were cases, where professional killers from Albania were involved in assassinations in Kosovo, Italy, and even the United States.

As I stated before, this phenomenon doesn’t exist only in Albania, but in most former socialist Eastern European countries. The transition into a market economy came along with corruption and organized crime which led to a rising number of hitmen.

Another factor was that many former communist secret agents and police officers lost their jobs. Left without a source of income, these experts in clandestine operations started offering their skills on the civilian market.

 by Kronus Tempus

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This was way back in 2004, I was travelling to Singapore on Singapore Airlines and total air-time was estimated to be around 7.5 hours. I usually tend to book a window seat which I did and of course in cattle-class. The aircraft was 3-4-3 configuration. I waited to see if the other two seats will get occupied, I could see that we were almost finished boarding and the two seats were unoccupied. Yes! I can stretch my legs. But as it usually happens the very last passenger walked in and sat in the aisle seat!

Now, I have a problem or lets say a habit. If someone sits next to me on a plane, I will talk to them and try to make conversation. I want to know about them, their lives. I am 1 out 6 billion people in this world, all I have is my story and my experiences, I would love to know what others have experienced in their life, what their journey has been! I love to hear others stories, their experience , their journey through life.

So, I begin my quest in earnest with the gentleman who sat in the aisle seat, he warmed up to me after some small talk. He looked serious, was wearing T-shirt and jeans. He might have been a bit less than 40 years old. He spoke with confidence and his language was very crisp and clear. After talking for 10-20 mins I gathered that he was single (never married), was heading over to Singapore for work and he travels far and wide for his work. We were offered drinks and peanuts by the air hostess, we said cheers and drank for our health.

Little by little, I started squeezing information out of him. By the time it was post-dinner, lights-dimming time, I had gathered more information about this fellow. They were:
1. He was heading to Singapore for work
2. He works for himself
3. People usually call him up and request a quote for a job
4. He usually provides the quote within a week or so
5. He only uses a satellite phone
6. He kept mentioning one particular word “eliminate” quite a few times
7. He avoided the questions related to his name, his answer “lets call me Roger, shall we?”

By then, we had downed a few more of the holy-water, so everything seemed good. But that word “eliminate” kept haunting me every minute or so. I could not sleep, I was restless, spent the next 3 hours wondering, what does he do exactly.

Finally, we were up and breakfast was offered. I resumed my interrogation. By the end of the breakfast, I gathered that:

1. He has accomplices in Singapore who will assist him in doing this job
2. He has accomplices everywhere in the world
3. Accomplices are not permanent, depending on the job he picks and chooses whom he wants
4. The “tools” required to finish the job were provided on location, sometimes hired/bought at the location.
5. He never carries his “tools” on him when asked why his answer “..too much of a hassle, you get asked too many questions..”
6. He did not want to reveal who will he be working for in Singapore
7. The person who gave him this “job” was a very very rich man in Singapore
8. It was going to take a full 2-weeks to “understand the situation” and a further 2-weeks “to prepare” and 1-day to “finish the job”.
9. He was flying off to a holiday after he finished this “job” but when asked about where he would be holidaying he was very vague with answer such as ” somewhere nice”

The plane had landed, my mind was racing. We walked out of the plane onto the walk-bridge. He looked calm as ever. We walked together to the customs and immigration, and towards the baggage carousel. We picked up our bags, headed to the taxi rank. It was time to say goodbye. I said, “It was nice meeting you Roger…hope you have a good stay in Singapore and good luck with your job. By the way I am really curious to know what is that you exactly do in your job..”
He gave one of those weird smiles, his taxi had arrived. He opened the door, shook my hands and said ” It was nice to meet you too, hope you have a good stay in Singapore as well..”. He sat in the taxi, the taxi was about to drive out… he opens his window and with a smile he says…

“Industrial Pest Killer”…….

To this day, I am still dazed and confused. Not because I met a person who was an “Industrial Pest Killer” because it could mean anything, really! The actual people who work in pest control do not call themselves “Pest Killer”, its just not a normal term. He certainly was hired “hitman” to “eliminate” something and he was certainly eliminating a “pest”. Pest could mean anything in this brave new World. My confusion persists and curious mind is more thirsty.