FLASH NEWS
'Thomas Shelby' is Albanian: Who is the Albanian who supplied drugs to 'Cosa Nostra'?
2026-05-21 21:03:50 / AKTUALITET
Investigators followed the movements of Alban Cjapi, well-known in the Palermo criminal market: he used the pseudonym “Thomas Shelby”. Cjapi is considered a drug lord who, according to anti-mafia officials, played a key role in supplying cocaine to the Palermo 'Cosa Nostra' criminal organization led by Gabriele Pedalino, a member of the Santa Maria di Gesù district.
By Salvo Palazzolo, LA REPUBBLICA
Gabriele Pedalino, a mafia boss from the Santa Maria di Gesù area and nephew of the historical boss Salvatore Profeta, ran his drug activities from prison. Without any problems. He had a modern smartphone at his disposal and gave orders at all hours to bring large loads of cocaine and hashish to Palermo.
He even connected via video conference on Instagram. Initially from the prison in Ascoli Piceno, then from Livorno.
From time to time, Pedalino's group relied on another drug dealer, Giuseppe Bronte. It didn't matter that he was under house arrest — he also ran the criminal activities full-time.
The latest investigation, coordinated by the anti-mafia prosecutor's office headed by Maurizio de Lucia, reveals the routes through which drugs arrived in the city and were then distributed in trafficking networks. Last night, 26 arrests were made by the police and carabinieri.
Mobile team investigators followed Pedalino's group for months. Meanwhile, soldiers from the anti-crime section were on the trail of other wholesalers.
These were groups that operated with the support of the Santa Maria di Gesù and Villagrazia mafia families. One of the wholesalers, called “The Attacker”, said that he had “the well-being that all of Palermo can offer him”. The traffickers had a lot of work and tried to use every precaution to avoid interception. For this reason they communicated on “Signal”, where they had christened the group in a special way: “The Outlaws”. Another group had been called “The Brothers”.
The drugs came from Calabria. One November day, three years ago, police officers from the anti-drug squad chased a Calabrian trafficker through the streets of Palermo, who was tasked with determining the details of the deal.
That time, the Palermo residents reached an agreement to buy 5 kilograms of cocaine, at a price of 23,500 euros per kilogram. “I’m bringing him 100 thousand euros — they said, without suspecting that they were being eavesdropped on — and he gives me five packages.”
For communication, they also used “Threema”, another messaging app that can be used without linking a phone number or email. Or “Zangi”, another platform that guarantees anonymity. However, investigators managed to listen to the conversations by installing a Trojan on the traffickers' phones.
ROS carabinieri followed the movements of an Albanian, Alban Cjapi, who supplied Palermo traffickers.
He used the pseudonym Thomas Shelby and was considered one of the most active traffickers in the Roman market. However, he also sold poor quality goods to the Palermo residents, which caused tensions.
Meanwhile, Pedalino continued to run the drug trade from prison. Of course, in his communications he never mentioned cocaine or hashish, but used codes like “white”, “007”, “minute”, “toptha”. The traffickers felt very safe communicating through messaging platforms. They even exchanged photos of drug packages.
Supplies came not only from Calabria, but also from Campania. Drugs were never lacking in the Palermo market.
Vincenzo Petrocciani, a drug dealer who later became a collaborator of justice, told prosecutors: “Alessandro Scelta, Giuseppe Bronte’s main collaborator, delivered 2-3 kilos of cocaine to me a week. At first I paid 41 thousand euros per kilo, then the price dropped. In 2024 he delivered seven kilos to me and I paid 31 thousand euros per kilo.”
Alessandro Scelta also had a weakness for pompous nicknames: “In Signal communications, he was called Medellin or Patron.” Two clear references to drug trafficker Pablo Escobar.
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