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Kronike2025-03-26 22:09:00

From torture to targeted killings, the brutal series of Elbasan gangs

Shkruar nga Pamfleti

From torture to targeted killings, the brutal series of Elbasan gangs

After performing the 40th anniversary ritual for his brother, Gazmendi, Eduart Peqini gathers about 15 members of the group and decides to head towards Cërriku to eliminate Arjan Toska.

Upon entering Cërrik, Arjan's group, seeing that the opponents were coming, fired in their direction. For several hours, members of both groups, also due to the darkness, fired indiscriminately. Two members of "Mandela's" group were killed in the gunfight, including the nephew of Myzejen Peqini, "Mandela's" mother.

In the early hours of the morning, Eduart Peqini's group retreats, leaving behind the victims. Arjan Toska keeps the bodies left on the battlefield by the "Mandela gang" as trophies and refuses to return them.

But “Mandela” takes action and kidnaps Toska’s stepfather, Petrit Kumria. He keeps him in an apartment, which was the home and base of Eduart Peqini’s gang. Kumria was tortured for days in the basement of the apartment. But Toska again refused to return the bodies, forcing “Mandela” to eliminate his stepfather. He was taken to the shores of Shkumbini by Vladimir Peqini, Dashamir Bristi and three other people.

They dug a hole on the banks of the Shkumbin River, where they threw him alive. They then shot him with a Kalashnikov, leaving him dead, and then covered the body.

"It was a chaotic situation, where many crimes, if you think about them today, are illogical. And this generation that was born after '95, if they listen to them, will tell us: 'You were not human to commit these actions, because everything is outside of human logic,'" said lawyer Alban Qafa.

After these events, the “Mandela Gang” became the terror of the area. The group began robbing citizens. They would appear at a checkpoint on the city ring road and at another checkpoint in the “Miraka” area, near the tunnel.

"They committed robberies in the Miraka tunnel, where they robbed freight and passenger vans. These had the lowest level of robbery, as they also robbed people's wallets," said lawyer Alban Qafa.

After the clash with the “Cërriku Gang”, the “Mandelas” became known in the city for the aggressive way they operated. They were involved in dozens of other crimes. They robbed hundreds of vehicles and citizens, but law enforcement agencies managed to solve only one case, leaving most of the robberies unsolved.

Defendant DL, unmasked, signaled the victims to stop and get out of the car, pointing his weapons at them. The witnesses, frightened, got out of the car, while defendant DL took 40,000 lek and his watch from Xh. P.'s pocket, while MB took 70,000 lek.

In addition to the robberies, the gang also committed two random murders of people with whom they had no conflict. In one case, one of the gang members shot from the balcony of an apartment near the customs office towards the olive grove, killing a person without any motive. He was simply testing his shooting skills on an innocent man.

Meanwhile, another person was executed after disobeying a checkpoint set up by gang members, who opened fire on his vehicle. / Inside Story 

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