Their skills are highly regarded and well thought-of inside Albania and in the West, they are reported to have one of the highest OPTEMPOs (frequency of deployments) in all of Europe and they have been trained by GSG 9.

[2] Following the emergence of capitalism in Albania after 1990 and in order to eradicate all semblances to and associations with the communist state, many investigators, attorneys and police officers were simply dismissed.

This confused situation soon allowed organized and individual crime to flourish to the point that it soon became the norm of everyday life.

Kidnapping, extortion, drug-related crime, murder and human trafficking were at an all-time high, and the Albanian fledgling democracy did not have the legal, administrative and organizational experience to combat these problems — in fact its infrastructure was almost non-existent.

The new public order authorities recognised the need for a small professional force, and after exhaustive trials and training finally established what subsequently came to be known as RENEA.

Initially, its organization was military in nature, dividing each team in groups of four, after the reputable British SAS system.

The unit is composed of negotiators, infiltrators, divers, rock-climbing, sappers, snipers and a small nucleus of logistics operatives.

Organization: In recent years, RENEA has been closely cooperating in the Training of their Operatives with the German GSG-9, as well as other Special Forces such as those from United Kingdom, France and Italy.

Subsequently, recruits are trained for an additional nine months in other skills such as linguistics, signals, photography, and hostage negotiations.

Candidates undergo long and complicated psychological and durability tests designed to weed out weaker applicants.

Their training routes take part in the worst weather, in some of the toughest terrain that Albania has to offer: in the northeastern mountain range (the highest peak is Korabi, at 2,751 metres (9,025 feet)), the marshes of Vlora, and the swamps of Durrës and Lezha.

The candidates that have successfully accomplished the first phase are left helpless in some remote part of Albania, at a safe distance from the capital, with 200 commandos and national guardsmen at their heels.

The fighting knives are of mixed origins - Randall and an assortment of locally manufactured products depending on the preferences of the operatives themselves.

Vehicles in use include IVECO vans, Mitsubishi SUVs, and a motley collection of armoured and private cars.

In another version (received directly by one of the most representing members of the group previously called "repart 326") the first "e" of RENEA stands for "Energjike".

The force has a mascot, a little three-legged dog called Triçikle (English: tricycle), who is considered to bring great fortune to the unit.