During the show "Në Shënjestër", details from the SPAK investigative file were revealed, where, according to the investigation, the sophisticated way in which the financial income that this criminal group was able to earn from international drug trafficking was managed from time to time was seen.
The 14 million euro account portfolio for Franc Çopja is not the first case successfully tracked and seized by the Special Prosecution Office.
SPAK prosecutor Dorina Bejko has emphasized that another wallet with cryptocurrencies worth 15 million euros has been seized, but that for investigation reasons it is not known which criminal organization it belongs to.
"In addition to the case related to a case from 2024, namely the value of 11 million dollars in Tether cryptocurrency and in binary accounts, the Special Prosecution Office, after this operation, using advanced programs for analyzing transactions carried out in cryptocurrency, was able to identify other amounts in the form of cryptocurrencies worth around 15 million euros, thus bringing the total amount of cryptocurrencies seized to 26 million euros in the form of Tether in binary accounts," says Dorina Bejko from the anti-corruption section at SPAK.
But returning to the case of the seizure of large amounts of money at one of the currency exchange points in Tirana, which was revealed after conversations held on Sky Ecc between Franc Çopja and Maklen Mic, even though they admit that the number of exchange points in Albania exceeds even Great Britain by two, there are still those who do not see it as a widespread phenomenon.
According to Dritan Vakaj, executive director of the National Association of Currency Exchange Offices, although the recent case showed that currency exchange agencies are used by criminal organizations, it is almost impossible for money laundering to take place legally from here.
There are over 650 licensed foreign exchange offices in Albania.
We do not think that it is a widespread phenomenon. There are cases that may have been highlighted in the media, and if we look at the national assessment of money laundering risk, foreign exchange offices are not assessed as having a high risk of money laundering.
Could we then have cases where certain individuals can open, buy or own a currency exchange office directly or indirectly and then use this as an activity for money laundering? It certainly exists as a possibility.
However, if you look at the figures, if you look at the records, their activity is mainly small businesses.
But he admits that these agencies are the most vulnerable to threats from criminal organizations.
Although the possibility of laundering money inside a currency exchange agency would be zero, due to the established transaction limit.
"The foreign exchange office cannot close the money laundering process by itself. So if you have 100 thousand illegal euros, you will undoubtedly convert them into lek, which helps the process and makes the investigation more difficult from the point of view of the law enforcement agency, you lose the ability to track and elements like these, but you will still have black money, you will have dirty money.
Undoubtedly, due to the high number, professional level currency exchange offices may be vulnerable to threats from individuals who may exploit this vulnerability of these offices or the inability to have proper anti-money laundering systems, however, we are far from being a phenomenon", Dritan Vakaj, from the National Association of Currency Exchange Offices.
But even when it comes to cryptocurrencies, the only ones who might have the opportunity to create a wallet are criminal organizations.
Which they have found as a way to be more at ease regarding their safety.
At a time when law enforcement agencies have also become more investigative in their work and have focused on this sophisticated method of investment.
The currency exchange office does not offer cryptocurrencies.
But the people who own the foreign exchange office have had crypto accounts through various platforms.
So if we talk about 'Lika' shpk or whatever the office is called, these transactions either have to be carried out through the banking system, which is difficult to happen in such values, or they will be carried out in cash at the office.
Which does not appear to have been made in cash at the office, but rather through crypto or cash transactions by the office owner.
"Regarding cryptocurrencies, I wanted to say that they could be the future of money laundering and I think that in this regard, law enforcement agencies will always be a few steps behind."
Because they are very fast transactions, they are international, and they are camouflaged with several layers of security, security barriers, that are difficult to intercept and then break.
And this means that the discovery will be several years after the event that occurred, namely the cleanup", Ermal Yzeiraj, Lawyer.
But one of the schemes that is widely recognized as a form of criminal money transaction is 'Hawala', which serves to finance cocaine dealers, through letters indicating the amounts to be transferred and the couriers who carry out the transfers.
Where the one who serves as an intermediary is a trusted person who keeps records of every amount to be transferred.
Where SPAK managed to document that over the course of just 2 years, millions of euros have been transferred through the 'Hawala' system in Albania.
Or through cryptocurrency transactions.
Before which it was proven that, on the orders of Ervis Çela, they had been transferred on behalf of other criminal organizations spread across Europe, the United Arab Emirates and even Central and South American countries.
What has also highlighted the real work done by some foreign exchange agencies in Albania, which, although they have been part of the inspections of the Bank of Albania, have served as depositories of dirty money.
Investigation File
Ervis Çela tells his brother that he has amassed more than 100 million euros. Ervis explains that he has just started a big job, which is suspected to refer to three newly launched containers headed to a port in Paraguay.
Ervis also sends the conversation he had with Petrit Lakatos, nicknamed 'Iphone', who asks to take a break because they are tired of dealing narcotics.
Meanwhile, Ervis Çela writes that he will 'suffocate Europe with cocaine'.
Ervis Çela writes to his brother Albin Çela.
Ervis Çela: Did you make 30 million euros?
Albin Çela: About 1 million euros are small banknotes.
Account sent by Franc Gergely.
€2,000,000 Captain
€1,000,000 Tony Stark
€3,000,000 Captain
50 Loaves of bread x €27,000 = €1,350,000
Total Remaining: €12,696,200
According to SPAK, one of these systems used for the circulation of these revenues, which is used as a simple form of sending cash in Albania, but also as an informal transfer system, is the 'token' or otherwise the 'hawala' system.
A system that enables the transfer of large amounts of money without having to leave a trace in the official banking system.
At least the documented ones.
Thus significantly reducing the risk of seizure or detection by law enforcement agencies.
From where it is believed that a good portion of the money was sent to Bolivia through 'Token'.
A country that, due to its relatively low level of control over the banking and financial system, as well as its geostrategic position, as it borders several landlocked countries, constitutes a favorable point for finalizing illegal financial transactions.
In this way, the suspected network not only manages to manage the physical drug trafficking in a sophisticated manner,
but also to circulate and launder the proceeds obtained through a well-organized and multiple scheme.
Dritan Vakaj
National Association of Currency Exchange Offices
'Hawala' is not a method of money laundering, but of transporting and transferring money and exchanging transactions virtually between individuals.
"So a kind of clearing outside the financial systems," says Dritan Vakaj from the National Association of Foreign Exchange Offices.
"The 'Hawala' method is one of the safest money laundering methods, because it is essentially based on trust and mutual recognition."
I think it will be very difficult to break, precisely because of the trust that exists.
"And that requires proactive and costly investigation if you are going to engage in investigating this pastrami method," says lawyer Erald Yzeiraj.
But what economic experts believe is that one of the factors that influences these criminal groups, such as in the specific case of Çopjave, to carry out this type of illegal money transaction activity, is the legal space in Albanian legislation.
Meanwhile, any criminal organization with an extension from South America to Europe, as part of its investment, certainly also has the extension of the transportation infrastructure and distribution of money earned from drug trafficking.
This was also helped by the many collaborators in the field.
Just as the network financed by Franc Çopjas in Albania was actually discovered.
Where in August 2020, while looking for the currency exchange point owned by Bashkim Lika and Maklen Mic, he mixed up the address and for this reason was forced to write to Sky Ecc.
As three men took action and exchanged details and photos through the Sky Ecc application, with the aim of directing him to the right point, where he would then withdraw 215,500 Euros divided into four installments.
The messages exchanged on Sky Ecc that three years later fell into the hands of SPAK, making possible a significant discovery about the evolution of Albanian organized crime.
Investigations that documented the existence of a group of people who used the foreign exchange business as a camouflage, while actually carrying out fast money circulation operations on behalf of the Çopja group.
"We have offices in Albania today licensed in a business number twice as large as the United Kingdom, which has 70 million inhabitants.
Then this type of fragmentation undoubtedly brings lower standards to the market.
"On the verge of survival or unable to develop a business, they may also be vulnerable to being used by criminal groups," says Dritan Vakaj from the National Association of Currency Exchange Offices.
"As a structure, you need a legitimate business or several legitimate businesses that invoice each other and go through several layers of cleaning to lose track as much as possible, and then you also need lawyers, jurists, financiers, you need employees in the banking system, you also need IT specialists, people with special skills.
"This would be a perfect structure for people engaged in laundering the proceeds of crime," lawyer Ermal Yzeiraj tells the show "Në Shënjestër".
But Ervis Çela are not the only ones who have used the 'Hawala' or 'Token' system to supply their network with money.
This method has also been used by other criminal groups.
"It is very important, even for the government, to complete the legal framework regarding digital wallets because currently the agency for the administration of seized and confiscated assets does not have a digital wallet to manage virtual assets," says Dorina Bejko from the Anti-Corruption Sector, SPAK.
But the fact that technology is always evolving is very important that investigative capacities for investigating cryptocurrencies must move forward, otherwise a very large asymmetry will be created between law enforcement authorities and organized crime.
But while it managed to carry out this attack, SPAK also followed in the footsteps of a second group that, in July 2025, enabled the transfer of significant amounts of money, whose source was drug trafficking from Switzerland to Albania.
Where at the head of this group was Ervis Ferizaj.
The 47-year-old was arrested in the city of Lucerne, Switzerland, in September 2024 on charges of drug trafficking, money laundering, and organized criminal group.
While in Tirana, he is suspected of having two currency exchange points owned by his father and wife.
This was done with the aim of camouflaging the transfer of illegal money from Switzerland to Albania.
Money that circulated through the 'Hawala' system on behalf of other people.
"SPAK faces a series of structural, technical, and international challenges in investigating money laundering.
And it is important that SPAK, in addition to the criminal investigation, also prioritizes the financial investigation in the investigation of criminal offenses because what is important is not to bring the perpetrators of the criminal offense to justice and punish them, but at the same time to seize and confiscate the illegal income that they have generated from this activity", Dorina Bejko from the Anti-Corruption Sector, SPAK.
But for lawyer Ermal Yzeiraj, it is important that after we have discovered the products of such a criminal offense, money laundering, especially in cryptocurrency,
The Albanian state should be able to reimburse this money through agreements with its partners. And these cryptocurrencies should not remain in the portfolios of other states, which are equally interested in having them.
"These are legislations that originate from international acts.
I think that these types of cooperation for the preservation of criminal offenses should be well secured with agreements between the parties so that in the future we do not have problems of who owns what, to which country it belongs, because many countries can launch investigations into the same criminal offense product.
At the end of the investigations and legal proceedings, all states can claim that it is the product of the criminal offense that belongs to me as a state, this jurisdiction that I claim is related to the offense, the author, the structures, and so on.
"But we must ensure, in the conditions that we do not have the capacity to store them, that we have a secure agreement that these products will be returned to us in the event that the persons are found guilty by a final decision," says lawyer Ermal Yzeiraj for the show "Në Shënjestër".
