FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Thanas Bako, the 52-year-old from Saranda, who was arrested on May 31 of this year in Athens, after an operation by the Greek police and Europol, as a suspect in the movement and cleaning in the Netherlands of about 500 million euros of international drug traffickers , continues to be isolated in prison in the Netherlands after being extradited from Greece. The first court session against him has been held and is awaiting the next session.
Considered by Europol to be "a known money launderer who laundered the dirty money of the world's biggest criminals", he was arrested following an FBI investigation following the discovery of his communications on the "ANOM" app where he was acting on behalf of traffickers in Dubai and the Netherlands to transfer millions of euros from one country to another.
Recently, the channel "Holland Crime Boulevard" on YouTube has broadcast a documentary about the story of the 52-year-old Sarandio, who, although "disappeared" for years from public life in the coastal city, was known since the 90s for his connections with Sarandio traffickers who mainly trafficked marijuana from Saranda in Greece, but in one case it was also identified for connection with English drug traffickers, "Balkanweb" reports. Although he had no criminal record in Albania and Greece where he lived recently, after returning from Canada and the Netherlands, his activity was discovered precisely by the investigations of the FBI and then the Dutch police in cooperation with Europol.
According to the "Holland Crime Boulevard" documentary, Thanas Bako had created a network of couriers transporting money for 10 years. Couriers were mainly plumbers, carpenters and window cleaners. These were unsuspecting people, always on the move that even if they parked their vans on the side of the road, no one would suspect because they would think they were there to do the job. The vans had makeshift places where the money was hidden. The most important thing for Bako was that these people did not have criminal records, because the police can identify the owner and his precedents through the license plate of the car.
CONVERSATION
Client : "I have a shipment for 2 million euros. I want you to divide in 2 for safety. 2 different couriers, they can't know. Both in the same place. 12.00 1 car, 12.10 1 car"
Thanas Bako : "I will make the difference 30 minutes, it is better. One guy doesn't outdo the other. One 12.00, the other 12.30. Two cars. This is safer for me."
An approximate location is discussed and Thanas sends two couriers there. Only at the last minute does the customer indicate the exact place where the money will be received. It was a restaurant called "Bruis" in Blaricum. While people were having lunch, 1 million euros were transferred twice to each of the cars in the parking lot. An hour after the money was received, one of the couriers sends Thanas a message:
Courier : "Hello friend, I'm sure, I just arrived. I'll count the money now"
After that he sends pictures of the money and says it is 1 million euros. Thanasi answers: "Thank you." Other messages show the percentage this courier receives.
Thanas Bako : "0.2% commission. Transport worth 1 million will give 2000 euros".
Courier : "It's very good. I am determined to do my best."
Thanas : "That's what I want to hear."
EVENT DATED 23.02.2021
Two brothers, in two separate vans go to a warehouse. One drives straight in while the other parks outside. They didn't notice a van parked in front of them. The driver who parked outside tried to enter the warehouse but was kicked by a masked person. Two other people came and took the two brothers hostage. The hostage takers forced the brothers to enter the warehouse office and give them "something" they wanted.
They searched the warehouse and one of the vans but found nothing. The hostage-takers' gray Renault van with license plate FN-615-ZM was later found. They had removed the license plates and tried to burn it but failed. A police officer speaking on an investigative show afterwards said the victims had no idea why they had been taken hostage and wanted to be robbed. According to the officers, the victims were innocent and most likely the hostage takers were at the wrong address. But she was wrong.
The "victims" knew exactly what the hostage takers wanted. They had come for millions and millions of euros. This warehouse served as one of the collection points of Thanas Bako. A person who later rented this warehouse said that “everything is well secured. Too luxurious for the job it was supposed to do. Check out the cameras and alarm buttons. The kitchen is hidden at the end and the walls are lined for sound insulation. Why should this be done". Why? To count 165 million and 718 thousand and 500 euros without the noise of money counters who worked for hours and could alarm the neighbors.
This warehouse was one of two locations that Thanas Bako used as a "bank". The two hostages were his two most trusted couriers. It only took 200 transactions to create that amount of money. So an average transaction had a value of 828,000 euros. As soon as the police discovered that they had been "deceived", they put together the pieces of the "puzzle" and realized that these people were working for Thanas and so they investigated further.
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