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"Invested" by Arben Ahmetaj/ A smuggler in charge of Gazhel's Anti-Smuggling Unit

2025-11-08 20:24:41 / POLITIKË ALFA PRESS
"Invested" by Arben Ahmetaj/ A smuggler in charge of Gazhel's

In February 2015, the General Directorate of Customs received a video from the Kakavija Customs. The footage showed two trucks of cigarettes, which were freely smuggled into the territory of Albania. During the smuggling parade, 5 employees were on duty at the Kakavija customs. These were 4 customs officers and the shift manager, Klodian Çani.

Following the disturbing video captured by the cameras of the Kakavija customs office, the General Directorate of Customs decided to immediately suspend the officer from duty. Meanwhile, the Operational Investigation Department of the General Directorate of Customs reported the five customs officers to the Gjirokastra prosecutor's office.

But Klodian Çani was strong. The prosecution never took him under investigation, but simply satisfied itself by questioning him as a person in the know. And the shift manager told the prosecutors that he was not aware of the passage of the means and that he had not been notified by any customs officer.

However, the then director of Customs, Irena Beqiraj, decided to dismiss Çani for administrative violations. The removal of the customs officer from Gjirokastra was an issue that caused quite a bit of conflict between former customs director Beqiraj and former Minister of Finance, Arben Ahmetaj. This is because Çani was considered an important asset of the Socialist Party in the southern district.

At the same time, within 6 months, he managed to overturn his dismissal from work in the Tirana Administrative Court. As a result, 3 years later, the scandalous customs officer returned to customs. This time, even more powerfully.

Initially, in 2018, Çani was appointed Deputy Director of Anti-Smuggling, and later as Head of the Information Directorate. This is the most important directorate in the fight against smuggling, as it coordinates all information coming from local institutions and customs of partner countries on smuggling routes.

In short, Klodian Çani was appointed the de facto director of anti-smuggling at the General Directorate of Customs even though he had a CV full of scandals, which only increased.

On August 27, 2021, the Director of Information of the Albanian Customs was arrested in Greece by the Hellenic Prosecutor's Office, as the leader of a gang that robbed bank ATMs. Mr. Çani spent several days in prison and was then released on bail, paying financial guarantees.

The arrest of such a high-ranking Customs official as the leader of a group of thieves would be a scandal in any country, including those in the third world. But in Albania, Klodian Çani was reinstated in his job. This time, thanks to the strong ties he had established with Gent Gazhelin, the longest-serving director of Albanian customs, who is known in narrow circles by the nickname “The Sock” of the Party.

Since the appointment of Gazhel as head of customs and Çani as de facto head of anti-smuggling, Albanian customs have been involved in quite a few scandals, including the smuggling of toxic substances. And with such a rich CV, the de facto director of Anti-Smuggling, there was no way he wouldn't fall into SPAK's net.

Klodian Çani's name has come up in several recent investigations into illegal money transfers to Greece, through a customs agency that the senior official owns in Piraeus.

This money is suspected to have been transferred to buy the votes of Albanian emigrants in Greece during the last elections, but also on behalf of high-ranking officials, who hide corruption money abroad. /Kapitali.al

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