Jared GoetzZenpire · CEO & Founder at Zendrop

The Albanian rifle scandal in the 90's you probably didn't know about.

25 Jul 2026 · 1 min

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The video explains how, after the collapse of its communist economy in the 1990s, Albania became one of the most heavily armed nations per capita, with civilians routinely storing ammunition alongside everyday goods. Seeking NATO membership, Albania was required to eliminate its legacy Soviet weapons and ammunition, which were incompatible with NATO-standard equipment. The disarmament effort was outsourced to the American firm Southern Ammunition, which subcontracted Albanian workers—including children who were dismantling tank shells while smoking. This unsafe practice culminated in a massive explosion at the Gerdag site, killing many people and sparking a major political scandal in Albania.

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Albania, when their economy collapsed in the '90s, became one of the most armed places on earth per capita. You would buy eggs or milk in the morning with a crate of ammo. That's how armed it was. And at the time, they were trying to join NATO, and one of NATO's requirements was that they get rid of all their old Soviet ammo because it's not compatible with the NATO system. If you're in the alliance, you need to use the alliance's weapon system, the M16, not the AK-47. They were required to destroy all that stuff. That whole process turned into a huge scandal over there. They had an enormous explosion at a place called Gerdag, American company called Southern Ammunition. They were subcontracting with the Albanians, and their subcontractors had kids taking apart tank shells, smoking cigarettes. It was not good. It blew up. It killed a whole bunch of people. It became a big political scandal.