In the 2008 film “Taken,” the human traffickers who kidnap the girls are Albanian.
The victims are Kim Mills and her friend Amanda, who are abducted while travelling in France. Bryan Mills, Kim’s former CIA-operative father, uses a brief phone call and his old intelligence contacts to identify the kidnappers as members of an Albanian sex-trafficking ring.
The film specifically connects the gang to Tropojë, a town in northern Albania. Bryan’s former colleague Sam recognizes the kidnappers’ language and accent, while the gang’s leader is identified as Marko Hoxha. The traffickers move the girls through a wider criminal network involving prostitution, drugging, and an underground auction.
The nationality is sometimes confused with the film’s French setting or with other fictional crime syndicates in action movies. In “Taken,” France is where the kidnapping and much of Bryan’s investigation occur; Albania identifies the traffickers’ origin and organization. The portrayal is fictional and has also drawn criticism for reinforcing negative stereotypes about Albanians.