A mega operation by the Special Prosecution Office led to the issuance of 10 arrest warrants for well-known names in the underworld and cocaine trafficking.

"Në Shënjestër" has brought details about how the group operated and how money was laundered by investing in Albania.

Like any other criminal activity, they had hidden the money earned from international drug trafficking.

Names that in fact had not remained unknown to the public until the moment when SPAK finalized an operation, in which it seized the assets they had hidden through so-called front persons.

But they had been so famous over the years that they had quickly earned the label of Albanian drug lords. Characters who were capable of moving tons of drugs from South America to Europe. Often flooding the old continent with cocaine, while in Albania for some of them, there was little knowledge of whether they had invested their billions, and if so where. But now this suspicion seems to have fallen and such characters have not only fallen into the net of justice, but have also been discovered in their activity of investing dirty money.

As was the case with the last operation undertaken by SPAK, where 10 arrest warrants were finalized, where the focus of the investigation was the crackdown on a structured criminal group involved in international drug trafficking.

Among the names on the list of people whose arrest warrants were issued are those of Dritan Gjika, Eldi Dizdari and Armando Pacani.

Criminal underworld figures who had invested part of their drug money in Albania, mainly in desirable coastal areas, assisted in this activity by builders who were in fact only such, as they served as launderers of the dirty money of these individuals. Who, as will be seen below, were unable to present themselves with their names as investors in Albania.
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SPAK

"SPAK, within the framework of criminal proceedings no. 138 of 2020, has finalized a complex operation against a structured criminal group, involved in international drug trafficking and laundering of proceeds of crime, suspected of the criminal offenses: 'Drug trafficking', 'Laundering of proceeds of crime', 'Structured criminal group' and 'Commitment of criminal offenses by a criminal organization or structured criminal group'.

Where the measure of personal security, 'Arrest in prison', has been imposed on 10 Albanian citizens, specifically; Nikoll Bibaj, Isa Aliu, Sokol Bibaj, ⁠Florjan Musaj, Armando Pacani, Denis Matoshi, ⁠Naldi Yzeiraj, Oklid Aliu, Dritan Gjika, Shpëtim Aliu. Operation during which the State Police carried out searches of apartments and other places where during the operation the security measure against the person under investigation Florian Musaj was executed. Meanwhile, searches continue to find and arrest 2 other people, who are suspected of being in Albania, while 7 people under investigation are not in Albania.

Meanwhile, 23 checks have been carried out on persons, apartments, offices of commercial companies and natural persons," SPAK said in a statement.

But as we emphasized, this operation was not only aimed at cracking down on international cocaine trafficking and the characters associated with it, but also at laundering the money that these characters had invested over the last 10 years in Albania. Investments which, as can be seen in this SPAK press release, are numerous and distributed throughout Albania.

"During the years 2019-2021, this group operated in Latin America, Brazil, Belgium and the Netherlands. The investigations conducted have led to suspicion that the suspects trafficked at least 50 tons of cocaine during the above period. Of which a total of 8 tons and 960 kg of cocaine-type narcotics were seized.
"The investigations have proven that a significant portion of the proceeds from international cocaine trafficking were transferred to Albania, in cash form to avoid the banking system in the first phase, and were then invested in real estate, in the creation and purchase of shares in commercial companies, various companies mainly in the fields of construction, hospitality, consultancy, etc.," the Special Prosecution Office said in a statement.