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Shkruar nga Pamfleti
An Albanian 'arms dealer' is roaming the streets after being released on bail as he fights extradition, while a fugitive murderer was able to roam free for five years by posing as a refugee.
Alban Gjidiaj, 28, is wanted by prosecutors in his home country in connection with an alleged plot to smuggle 8 guns and a quantity of ammunition out of Albania to sell to gangs based in the UK.
He was arrested earlier this year by the Metropolitan Police on a warrant from Albanian special prosecutors, before being granted bail after posting a £5,000 bail.
The decision to keep him on the streets of London will come as a surprise given the seriousness of the charges against him. If convicted, he faces a sentence of 17 years in prison.
He denied the allegations to the Mail newspaper and vowed to face extradition.
In a second shocking example that shows the broken immigration system in Britain, an Albanian man who shot a man in a bar managed to sneak into the UK and file an asylum claim, despite being a wanted fugitive.
Mikel Hoxha, 33, has been in the UK for seven years, having arrived in a lorry, five of which he spent as a free man after officials failed to realise he was being hunted.
He was sentenced to 17 years in prison in absentia by an Albanian court for 'attempted premeditated murder', while he was free in Britain.
When Hoxha was finally arrested in Cardiff in September 2023, he was on immigration bail and in the process of appealing the rejection of his asylum claim.
He has been in custody ever since, with his lawyers trying to fight his extradition using the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Hoxha's legal team is using Article 8, the right to a family life, claiming that his extradition would harm his partner and two young children, who were born in 2019 and 2022 after he entered the UK illegally. Hoxha's partner is also seeking asylum.
Alban Gjidiaj, who was photographed by the Mail newspaper driving a white Mercedes GLC AMG worth around £20,000, will appear before Westminster Magistrates' Court for an extradition hearing on December 4, 2025.
Prosecutors from the Special Structure against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK) accuse Gjidiaj of being part of a gang that organized the sending of a shipment of weapons and ammunition to Britain from the port city of Durres, according to court records.
Një ekspert shqiptar për krimin e organizuar, i cili kërkoi të mbetej anonim, i tha gazetës Mail: “duke çmontuar këtë organizatë kriminale, prokurorët e SPAK kanë shpëtuar jetë.”
Këto armë vdekjeprurëse, me numra serialë të hequr, ishin të destinuara të përfundonin në duart e shqiptarëve të përfshirë në krimin e organizuar në Mbretërinë e Bashkuar.
Ato kishin për qëllim të mbronin fermat e kanabisit në të gjithë vendin, të cilat shpesh janë në shënjestër të bandave rivale.
Ato ka të ngjarë të përdoren gjithashtu nga individë që ruajnë të ashtuquajturat 'shtëpi të sigurta', vende të përdorura për të ruajtur kokainën para shpërndarjes.
Ky operacion jo vetëm që ndërpreu një rrugë kryesore trafikimi, por gjithashtu parandaloi potencialisht përshkallëzimin e konflikteve të dhunshme si në Mbretërinë e Bashkuar ashtu edhe në Shqipëri.
Një burim në zyrën e Interpolit në kryeqytetin e Shqipërisë, Tiranë, shtoi se “për shkak të aktivitetit kaq të rrezikshëm kriminal të kësaj organizate kriminale me një ndikim shkatërrues në Mbretërinë e Bashkuar, ishte një përparësi për ne të gjenim të tjerë që nuk ishin në territorin e Shqipërisë.”
Prokurorët kanë implikuar gjithashtu vëllain 33-vjeçar të Gjidiajt, Almirin. Ai u arrestua në një hotel në Islas del Rosario, një grup i vogël ishujsh piktoresk pranë brigjeve të Kolumbisë.
Një kontroll zbuloi 8 armë zjarri të tipit pistoletë të markave Glock, Herstal dhe Broëning, katër karikatorë pistolete dhe 201 fishekë kalibri 9 mm të fshehur brenda një tavoline druri.
Sipas prokurorëve, Almiri ishte udhëheqësi i një nëngrupi me bazë në Mbretërinë e Bashkuar brenda rrjetit më të madh të trafikimit.
Pretendohet se ai ishte përgjegjës për menaxhimin e logjistikës dhe transportit për shitjen e paligjshme të armëve të zjarrit me rreze të mesme dhe të gjatë veprimi në tregun e zi.
Almiri më parë zotëronte një kompani pastrimi në Londër, sipas të dhënave të Companies House.
Vëllai i tij u paraqit për herë të fundit në Gjykatën e Magjistraturës në Ëestminster më 1 gusht, ku lirimi me kusht i tij u zgjat deri në seancën e plotë dëgjimore për ekstradimin e tij më 4 dhjetor.
Gjidiaj iu nënshtrua një sërie kushtesh lirimi, duke përfshirë qëndrimin në shtëpinë e tij midis orës 7 të mbrëmjes dhe 7 të mëngjesit, paraqitjen rregullisht në një stacion policie lokale dhe mosaplikimin për dokumente udhëtimi. Ai është i pajisur me një etiketë elektronike.
Një deklaratë për shtyp e lëshuar nga SPAK në korrik thuhet se një furgon me targa britanike u ndalua nga oficerët në një pikë kontrolli në portin e Durrsit më 10 prill 2023.
Kontrolli zbuloi 8armë zjarri të tipit pistoletë me emrat e markave Glock, Herstal dhe Broëning, katër karikatorë pistolete dhe 201 fishekë kalibri 9 mm të fshehur brenda një tavoline druri.
Numrat serialë të armëve ishin hequr, tha SPAK.
Deklarata e përmendi Gjidiajn si person që luante një rol “ndihmës” në komplot.
SPAK said 24 more pistols, a Kalashnikov and hundreds of rounds of ammunition were later seized in a raid on a house belonging to another defendant.
In the case of his compatriot, murderer Mikel Hoxha, the Ministry of Interior has refused to explain how the criminal managed to apply for asylum despite being a fugitive.
On June 6, 2018, Hoxha opened fire on a man named Admir Haruni after they had an argument in a bar in the southwestern town of Gramsh in Albania.
He fired several bullets, hitting Mr. Haruni in the leg.
In a wiretapped phone conversation on June 7, Hoxha's father was heard telling a contact how his son had "shot someone in the leg" and that he was wanted for "unlicensed possession of firearms and attempted murder."
Court documents seen by the Daily Mail revealed that Hoxha fled Albania immediately after the incident, initially fleeing to neighboring North Macedonia.
He then paid people smugglers in Belgium to illegally enter the UK in a lorry later in 2018, before claiming asylum on 8 August on the grounds that he was fleeing a "blood feud".
On April 23, 2021, while Hoxha was still in the United Kingdom, a court sentenced him to 17 years in prison in absentia, after finding him guilty of 'attempted premeditated murder' and 'unlicensed possession of firearms'.
From his British hideout, the bandit appointed his Albanian lawyer to conduct an appeal, which succeeded in reclassifying his offense as 'intentional grievous bodily harm' and reducing his sentence to four years.
Despite being the subject of two trials in Albania, he was only arrested on September 20, 2023, five years and one month after his initial asylum request.
Hoxha's lawyers attempted to block his extradition under Article 3 of the ECHR, claiming that there was a real risk of inhuman or degrading treatment in Albania due to poor prison conditions.
This was rejected by District Judge Tan Ikram, sitting at Westminster Magistrates' Court, who noted that Albania was a signatory to the ECHR.
He also described the claims that Hoxha was at risk from a “hostility” as “unconvincing” and concluded that the public interest in his extradition outweighed any Article 8 considerations.
Ikram referred the extradition case to the Secretary of State earlier this month, but Hoxha, who is currently in Wandsworth Prison, has the right to seek leave to appeal.
Currently, 14 Albanian nationals arrested while hiding in the United Kingdom are facing extradition proceedings at Westminster Magistrates' Court.
The Home Office said it was its "longstanding policy" not to comment on "individual cases". / Adapted from Daily Mail /
Lini një Përgjigje