FLASH NEWS
"Aruba Corporation": SPAK strikes billion-dollar drug and tower scheme in Tirana
2026-06-12 18:10:02 / AKTUALITET
The exotic Caribbean island of Aruba, with white sand beaches and luxury resorts, hosted a group of men from Albania at the end of January 2019, but their interest was not related to tourism.
Under the sun of the Netherlands Antilles, thousands of kilometers from Tirana, they were discussing business deals built on three main pillars: the logistics of cocaine trafficking in Latin America, land transactions in the capital and the coast, and development projects for towers and tourist resorts.
The key figure in the meeting was Artur Shehu, a controversial figure originally from Vlora, who has lived in Florida, USA, for two decades. Also present at the meeting, which was monitored by foreign authorities, were his associates, Arben Ismailaj, Elton Memeti, Adrian Rama and Bujar Shehaj.
According to recent investigations conducted by prosecutors Altin Dumani and Elida Kaçkini, initially initiated for suspected land transactions in Zvërnec, this was not Shehu's only meeting for the purpose of managing his business interests in Albania.
"Shehu participates in meetings in Spain, Monaco, Germany, Aruba, among others, in which the purchase, transportation and introduction of large quantities of drugs into Europe is planned," the Special Prosecution's decision states, which also mentions meetings with "senior state officials of the Albanian state."
The investigative files that BIRN has at its disposal shed light on massive forgeries of coastal land and money laundering from international cocaine trafficking in towers being built in Tirana and in other development projects, including the land where the resort in Zvërnec advertised by the US president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is expected to be built.
The Special Court approved 20 arrest warrants on Friday for the criminal offenses of money laundering, organized criminal group, and international drug trafficking; including Artur Shehu, two major construction businessmen in Tirana, Ilir Shtufi and Orest Sota, as well as other persons linked to drug trafficking or land transactions.
Investigative files related to three different criminal proceedings shed light on a symbiotic coexistence between the underworld and business in connection with a series of projects approved by the "Rama" government in the last decade, including the "Garden Building" and "Colonnade" multi-story towers of Ilir Shtufi's companies in Tirana, the "Green Coast" resort in Palasa of the Balfin group owned by Samir Mane, a coveted plot of land near the "Air Albania" stadium in Tirana, as well as large areas of land in Zvërnec and other parts of the coast with Artur Shehu as the beneficiary.
According to court documents, the history of the secretive real estate empire spans two decades of fraud, international drug trafficking and state corruption. The seized assets are worth staggering amounts.
Details of Artur Shehu's meetings in Majorca, Germany, Aruba and Belgium were uncovered and monitored by a 2019 European investigation into the criminal activities of the "Osmani Clan".
The documents state that between January 24 and 31, 2019, observations of several meetings between a group of Albanians involved in drug trafficking took place on the island of Aruba.
The purpose of these trips was twofold, according to the prosecution's file. On the one hand, the logistics of the cartels were planned, with the investigative file sent by the Spanish authorities stating that the people involved planned to "purchase, transport and introduce large quantities of drugs into Europe."
On the other hand, Aruba served as a starting point for investments in Albania, which according to Belgian investigators referred by SPAK had political support in Tirana.
The Belgian documents underline that "these meetings appear to be related to real estate projects in Albania, potentially financed with illicit funds, with the support of political authorities."
To inject these staggering amounts of money earned from trafficking into the legitimate economy, the group set up a classic, but massive, money laundering scheme. The first phase, the “placement” phase, was carried out by transferring drug money through alternative systems such as physical routes or the “hawala” system.
Then came the manipulation of ownership. One of the most flagrant means was the use of falsified historical documents. For the lands in Zvërnec, the “Register of the Daim of 1318, serial number 47” was used, a document in the Ottoman language that allegedly made their ancestor, Seit Ahmet Shehu, the owner of thousands of square meters of forest and pasture. Court proceedings later proved that this document presented for the return of the properties was completely manipulated and deliberately mistranslated.
Once the properties were “acquired,” they were subjected to a lengthy process of stratification. The file explains that the cleansing was done through “multiple fragmentations and subsequent alienation, in the form of purchase, exchange or other forms, with the aim of making tracing more difficult.” The final step was to give these lands to “developing entities, in agreement between them, thus integrating and mixing illegal income with legal income.” This modus operandi, according to the Prosecution, has left its mark on giant projects such as the villas in Palasa and the multifunctional “Garden Building” on Kavaja Street in Tirana.
Investigations show that the so-called "Aruba summit" has decided the fates of dozens of projects, which are now a visible part or face of Tirana and the Albanian coast.
Behind the scenes revealed by Sky ECC
Komunikimet e dekriptuara nga aplikacioni i koduar, Sky ECC, zbulojnë qartë dhe pa filtra se si anëtarët e rrjetit menaxhonin pazaret miliona-euroshe të pasurive të paluajtshme dhe drogës, njëlloj sikur të bënin pazar për produkte të përditshme.
Bisedat konfirmojnë interesin e tyre të lartë për tokat në jug të vendit. Në një mesazh të datës 9 shtator 2020, një nga anëtarët i shkruan një tjetri, i shqetësuar për rrjedhjen e informacionit dhe çmimet e larta të tokave:
“Cpb vlla, degjo se paska qen ai shoku jot prap te indjani dhe paska fol per Zvërnecin për çmim toke po mos i thuj gjë si qysh tek që mos prishim pun…”. Më tej theksohet: “Kan fol ato për çmim për Palasen tek ty dhe për në Zvernec”, duke shtuar se “…ka hall kusho mos del bllof me çmimin qe mund të jen fol ato vlla kupton”.
Bisedat janë mes Alfredo Hamzait dhe Adrian Ramës, dy bashkëpunëtorë të Artur Shehut. Prokuroria thotë se këto biseda po ashtu tregojnë se Shehu e të tjerë ishin në dijeni të trafikut të narkotikëve. Shehu, megjithatë, sipas prokurorisë është i kujdesshëm dhe kërkon që bisedat për drogën dhe tokat të bëhen drejtpërdrejt. Në një rast, ai urdhëron vartësin ta priste në Stamboll, ku ai po udhëtonte nga Shtetet e Bashkuara.
Në biseda të tjera, ata udhëzojnë drejtpërdrejt lidhjen e kontratave për vilat në resortet luksoze bregdetare.
Në korrik 2020, një përdorues urdhëron: “na fol me ate te viles te vi ai djali te firmosi. 70 do ja kaloj ne bank, tjerat e rregullojme me vone”:. Një mesazh tjetër thekson urgjencën e transaksionit: “na fol me ate te vilave ta presi këtë shokun tim ne Vlorë t’i bëj kontratën e 98/2. Na jep nji numër ose ta presi Adi”. Edhe emrat e noterëve e biznesmenëve të njohur në vend përmenden me lehtësi në bisedat e tyre rreth ligjërimit të pronave.
Këto copëza komunikimesh konfirmojnë pikërisht atë që Prokuroria e Posaçme ka ngritur si akuzë: personat nën hetim kishin kaluar nga logjistika e kontejnerëve me lëndë narkotike, në ndërtimin e një perandorie betoni.
Nga Zvërneci te kullat e Tiranës
Në dokumentet e SPAK, takimet, bisedat e koduara dhe transaksionet e pronave lidhen në një skemë të vetme, ku pasuritë e dyshuara si të përfituara përmes falsifikimeve apo parave të trafikut futeshin më pas në ciklin e ndërtimit.
Sipas Prokurorisë së Posaçme, personat nën hetim përdornin “falsifikimin e dokumenteve të përfitimit të pronësisë duke krijuar pronësi të pavërtetë ose duke shtuar sipërfaqet e pronësisë”. Ata kryenin më pas copëzimet e shumta të tyre dhe tjetërsimin, në format e blerjes, shkëmbimit apo dhurimit, me qëllim vështirësimin e gjurmimit.
Tokat u jepeshin më pas subjekteve zhvilluese dhe ndërtuese, duke integruar dhe përzierë në këtë mënyrë të ardhurat e paligjshme me ato të ligjshme.
This modus operandi, according to the file, appears on the plot of land near the “Air Albania” stadium, on “Dervish Hima” street, where the prosecution says the actions were carried out by Adrian Rama, Artur Shehu, Elton Memeti, Alfredo Hamzai and Ardian Zykaj “at least from 2017 onwards”. The same scheme, according to SPAK, also extends to the villas of the “Green Coast” complex in Palasa, to the lands used for the construction of this complex, to construction projects in Tirana, as well as to construction companies or companies linked to the persons under investigation.
For the properties in Zvërnec, the prosecution is even more direct. In the request received by the GJKKO, it says that the investigations have revealed “reasonable suspicions based on evidence” that the assets there “were obtained illegally, through forgeries”. According to the file, these properties are suspected of having been obtained “using forged documents”, both for the recognition of ownership by state institutions, and for its registration for the purpose of inheritance.
The decision also mentions the much-discussed document known as the “Daimit Register,” which the High Court, according to the prosecution, confirmed in its reasoning that “it turned out to be falsified.” The prosecution adds that the land in Zvërnec is suspected of having been moved towards the coast and that the manner in which it was transferred to Artur Shehu through sales and exchanges shows “the manner in which this citizen acquired numerous lands,” with the subsequent intention of selling or investing.
For this reason, the GJKKO imposed a preventive seizure on the amounts generated from the transaction with the company "Albania Land Development" managed by Redi Struga and owned by two brothers from Qatar, Al Khayyat.
The amount seized in this decision is 128,354,437 euros, divided into three payments, and the immediate freeze was approved by the court with the argument that: "there is a high and concrete risk that these assets will be alienated, destroyed or transferred to a third party."
Security measures approved by the GJKKO
1-Ardian Zykaj, alias Blerim Miftari
2-Alfredo Hamzai, alias Genc Bedini
14-Luciano Koceku alias Artur Mersin Koceku
15-Dino Koceku, alias Abedin Koceku
/ Taken from BIRN
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