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The investigative file includes a series of meetings in several countries, where, according to SPAK and Belgian authorities, cocaine trafficking operations and real estate investments were discussed...
Artur Shehu and other individuals that SPAK links to Alfredo Hamzai's group appear to have held numerous meetings outside Albania during the period 2018-2021. According to investigative materials, these contacts took place in countries such as Spain, Belgium, Germany, Monaco and Aruba, with a focus on organizing international drug trafficking and using the suspected proceeds for investments in Albania.
The documents of the Special Prosecution Office state that Artur Shehu participated in meetings held in Spain, Monaco, Germany and Aruba, where the purchase, transport and introduction of large quantities of narcotics into the European market were discussed. In these meetings, according to varying degrees of involvement, Adrian Rama, Elton Memeti, Erjon Rama, Leonard Bishaj, Bujar Shehaj, Alfredo Hamzai and Pëllumb Petritaj are also mentioned.
One of the episodes included in the file, according to shqiptarja.com, is related to meetings held in Majorca during 2019. According to the investigation, Bashkim Osmani from Kosovo, Adrian Rama, Elton Memeti, Toni Lipaj, Artur Shehu, Arben Ismailaj, Klodjan Jahja, Bujar Shehaj and other people participated in them. These meetings preceded the operation of the Spanish authorities in Barcelona in January 2020, where 441 kilograms of cocaine were seized and a cousin of Alfredo Hamzai was arrested.
The file also describes a meeting in Monaco, where, according to the investigation, the coordination of cocaine trafficking from Suriname to Europe was discussed. In this case, Adrian Rama turns out to have been in the company of Elton Memet, while Artur Shehu, Arben Ismailaj and Alfredo Hamzai also participated in the meetings. According to the documents, Erjon Rama was identified in a vehicle together with his brother Adrian Rama and Artur Shehu, before traveling to Mallorca.
Information provided by Belgian authorities also speaks of two other meetings during 2019, which, according to investigations, are related to the investment in real estate of suspected drug trafficking proceeds.
One of them took place in Antwerp, Belgium, between February 12 and 14, 2019. According to the file, Adrian Rama, Elton Memeti, Arben Ismailaj and Alfredo Hamzai participated in this meeting. Investigators suspect that they were transported from Zaventem airport to Antwerp in a Ford Kuga vehicle used by Indrit Kulaj.
Another episode mentioned in the documentation is related to the stay in Aruba, in the Netherlands Antilles, from January 24 to 31, 2019. According to the file, Arben Ismailaj, Elton Memeti, Adrian Rama, Artur Shehu and Bujar Shehaj were on this trip.
The Belgian authorities' materials cited by SPAK mention information about meetings held with senior Albanian state officials in Aruba. According to the data included in the file, these contacts may have been related to real estate projects in Albania, potentially financed with illegal funds and with political support.
However, the file does not contain any other identifying elements for these officials and does not present any additional evidence to document their involvement. The same information, according to SPAK, had also been part of an investigation by Italian authorities, which was previously closed for lack of evidence.
In the assessment of the Belgian authorities, Artur Shehu is considered a person with an important role within the structure of the group. Investigators argue that he had direct contact with Alfredo Hamzai, participated in meetings to organize cocaine trafficking and was aware of investments in real estate. According to them, there are indications that he exercised supervisory functions in the network.
Regarding money laundering, SPAK describes a multi-stage scheme. The first stage consisted of transferring or transporting criminal proceeds, including the use of alternative money circulation systems such as "hawala".
Then, according to the investigations, the funds were invested in real estate, while mechanisms such as changing ownership, falsifying documents, creating fictitious owners, artificially increasing surface areas, and numerous transactions that made it difficult to identify the final beneficiaries were used to hide their origin.
The final phase, according to SPAK, involved the transfer of land to construction companies through various agreements, combining illegal income with legitimate economic activity.
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