Triumf Riza

Who was Triumf Riza?

Triumf Riza was a police officer, and member of an elite protection unit with the fledgling Kosovo Police Service, who was killed in the line of duty during an ongoing clash with the Enver Sekiraqa gang, an Ethnic Albanian crime syndicate that operates in Kosovo. Riza is notable in that he was the young police force's first recognized hero, and a source of pride at a much needed time for the war torn and now newly independent country, formerly a part of Yugoslavia.

Kosovo first began working towards its independence in the 1990s, this heightened when NATO took action against the forces of Yugoslavia, and the United Nations dispatched International Police with its UNMIK organization to stabilize the region. With the birth of the Kosovo Police Service, UNMIK Police were tasked with training and organizing the newly formed police force. One of the main concerns quickly became organized crime, with both Albanian and Bulgarian mafia immediately taking advantage of the weak economic situation in Kosovo, to set up prostitution and illegal drug rings. Enver Sekiraqa quickly climbed to the top of organized crime, and was arrested several times for illegal weapons and other charges, but never received a sentence exceeding six months in jail. This was believed due to corruption within the court system of Kosovo.