Latest news with #Albanian-speaking
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Telegraph
The rapid downfall of Albania's most-feared drug gang
The Cela-Çopja clan was one of Europe's most powerful crime syndicates whose decisions dictated the price of cocaine across the continent. Masterminded by its ringleaders Franc Çopja, 33, and Ervis Cela, 41, the Albanian gang smuggled billions of pounds worth of cocaine from Latin America into EU ports. It then laundered its assets through a sprawling commercial empire that included vast tracts of real estate, a five-star tourist resort, villas and apartments. The drug lords amassed such vast quantities of cash that they even bickered on whether it was best to hide the banknotes under the roots of olive trees or convert them into gold bullion. But in the space of just days, the cartel saw its operation brought to its knees with Çopja and Cela arrested alongside their senior lieutenants and its assets seized by SPAK – Albania's anti-corruption and organised crime taskforce. In March 2021, investigators infiltrated Sky ECC, an encrypted messaging service, laying bare their alleged crimes. Cela, who was wanted in Italy for torturing and murdering a rival Albanian pimp, was arrested alongside two of his brothers and eight other conspirators in a series of lightning raids in June and August. Copja had been arrested in Belgium in Dec 2023 and is on trial for murder after being extradited from his mansion in Dubai. He is considered the logistical brain behind the operation, securing the transfer of cocaine through ports in northern Europe. 'This criminal organisation can be considered one of the most powerful Albanian organisations in the international cocaine trade,' Altin Dumani and Vladimir Mara, prosecutors, said in a joint statement. 'It had the capacity to directly influence the price of cocaine in European markets and to manage large quantities of the narcotic substance in short periods of time,' they added. The cartel is said to have controlled the entire chain of cocaine trafficking – from production and processing in laboratories in Paraguay, to international transport and distribution in European markets, and finally to the laundering and circulation of illicit proceeds in Albania and other countries. A share of the group's cocaine is believed to have been trafficked across the English Channel to the UK where, according to the National Crime Agency, Albanian-speaking criminal gangs control a sizeable portion of its lucrative market. A kilo of cocaine in the UK is estimated to be worth £40,000 compared to £20,000 in Europe. According to Europol, Europe's police agency, Sky ECC was widely used for criminal purposes, including drug trafficking, money laundering, and the distribution of child sexual abuse material. Although Sky ECC has been shut down, hundreds of millions of encrypted messages remain available and have been examined by law enforcement authorities across Europe and beyond for years. A 282-page-long indictment issued on Aug 8 by SPAK, and seen by The Telegraph, reveals how the gang allegedly attempted to transport 28 tonnes of cocaine hidden in boxes of soap, cans of paint or industrial glue from Paraguay into the ports of Hamburg and Antwerp between 2020 and 2021. On Feb 12 2021, 16.4 tonnes of high-purity cocaine stashed in 1,700 tins of wall putty, with an estimated street value of £3bn, was seized at the ports and was, at the time, the largest seizure of cocaine in Europe's history. Another shipment, which successfully passed through the port of Antwerp in 2020, was worth £1.3bn. The group developed a sophisticated system for transferring illicit drug trafficking proceeds from Europe to Albania, including the use of couriers for cash transfers and a so-called 'hawala' network, enabling the circulation of hundreds of millions of euros in cash. Cela is said to have orchestrated the operation while on the run in Paraguay. In one exchange on Dec 12 2020, Cela told Çopja that he planned to bury his euros in the roots beneath his grove of 200 olive trees in Albania. However, Çopja warned that notes would rot underground and encouraged him to convert them into gold bullion. 'I have to rob a bank' Cela replied: 'There's no gold... I have to rob a bank... I have to order it from Africa.' Çopja said: 'I know somebody who can procure it [the gold] for us.' 'Ask him, whatever he has, 100/200 kilos,' replied Cela. The conversation later drifted toward luxury watches and farmland. By late afternoon the same day, Cela outlined plans to buy two farms for £10m in Paraguay, an investment that, by his estimate, would yield £1.8 million a year. In a separate conversation with his brother over Sky ECC in Nov 2020, Cela wrote that £800,000 owed by one of their traffickers was delayed 'due to a downturn in the UK market'. Cela had spent 11 years on the run before his arrest in the seaside village of Qeparo on the southern coast of Albania on June 29. Along with his brother Ardian and accomplice Hiseni Fatos, he had been convicted in Italy of murdering Petrit Keci in Sept 2008 who had tried to muscle in on the group's prostitution ring in San Benedetto del Tronto. The trio was convicted of beating Keci and shooting him six times in the head before burning his remains in an attempt to conceal the crime. Cela was sentenced to 30 years in prison. His brother received 18 years. The pair, however, managed to appeal the sentence and were held in pre-trial detention, but the time limit on the detention expired before they were re-convicted and they were released in May 2014, giving them the chance to flee abroad and lose themselves in the criminal underworld. Cela will now have to serve a 21-year prison sentence for murder, kidnapping, attempted hiding of a corpse, threats, illegal possession of explosives and ammunition as well as obstruction of justice on top of any convictions he receives for drug smuggling and related offences. One of the more stand-out assets seized by SPAK was the opulent 'Ajman Park' resort in Shijak, a town 27 kilometres west of the capital Tirana. On its still active website, the hotel offers '24 hour security' for those who wish to rent its Greco-Roman style 'Marvel Palace' for wedding functions or dine at its Sushi and Steakhouse restaurant. The seizures marked a rare intervention by Albanian authorities who have almost never launched investigations into the origins of the large-scale capital flowing into the country's tourism and construction sectors.
Euractiv
31-07-2025
- Business
- Euractiv
Business over bylines: How Kosovo's media is being captured by corporate interests
The bosses of Klan Kosova, one of Kosovo's biggest media company, have a straight-forward approach to stories concerning their wealthy owners – they ignore them. 'We were not allowed to report on things that affected the interests or image of the owners' businesses,' explained a longtime journalist at Klan Kosova. The strategy came under the spotlight in 2024, after the US imposed an embargo on Comodita Home, the Devollis' mattress company, over allegations of unfair pricing. 'We did not report the reason for the embargo,' the journalist, who like most of his colleagues who spoke to Euractiv for this piece, requested anonymity out of fear of retribution. 'Later, there were only reports on why the government does not protect businesses,' the journalist added. In southeastern Europe, press freedom is under mounting pressure and particularly so in Kosovo, the small, Albanian-speaking nation that broke away from Serbia in 2008. The country's troubled trajectory is surprising, particularly considering that it represents the closest thing Europe has to a laboratory for nation building. Both the US and EU have poured billions into the country since its war of independence from Serbia ended more than a quarter century ago and continue to exert substantial influence over its politics and civil society. Even so, the days when Kosovo was viewed as a great hope for Balkan democracy are largely over, a reality particularly obvious in its media sector. The country has plummeted in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, falling to 99th place – one of the lowest rankings in Europe. Reporters Without Borders cited the increasing grip of politically connected business groups and the corrosive effect of their influence on media independence. Though Kosovo's media landscape appears pluralistic on paper, behind the scenes, journalists describe a far more compromised reality – one in which censorship in service of private business interests has become 'the norm'. Meet the Devollis Few actors exemplify this dynamic more clearly than the Devolli Group – a sprawling business empire run by brothers Blerim and Shkelqim Devolli, whose holdings stretch from coffee and mattresses to media and telecoms. The group owns Klan Kosova TV, a radio station, and a cable operator – all critical platforms in shaping public opinion. But current and former journalists at these outlets say editorial lines are dictated by corporate priorities, not journalistic standards. 'It's structured to protect the company's business,' another editor at Klan Kosova said. A former employee was even more blunt: 'We couldn't do our work professionally without clashing with business. Owners were interested in pushing an agenda for political influence.' Those pressures escalated in 2023, when Kosovo's Ministry of Industry and Trade moved to suspend Klan Kosova's business certificate, citing its registration in Serbia as a constitutional violation. While the move sparked outrage as a potential attack on press freedom, insiders say the internal reaction revealed deeper problems. According to one former staffer, Shkelqim Devolli ordered across-the-board critical coverage of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti. 'It was a kind of mobilisation of all television programmes against the government, driven by the belief that the very existence of the television was under threat,' the staffer said. Devolli Corporation's management and Klan Kosova's editor-in-chief declined to comment, despite several attempts. A regional crisis Such pressures are far from isolated. Across Kosovo and the wider region, a six-month investigation involving more than 30 sources revealed a consistent trend: the consolidation of media ownership in the hands of powerful business moguls who use their outlets to protect financial and political interests. The EU's 2025 Rule of Law report echoes these concerns, urging greater transparency in media ownership and stronger safeguards for editorial independence. Without such reforms, observers warn, Kosovo's EU accession prospects – and its democratic institutions – remain vulnerable. A draft report from the European Parliament issued in February similarly "calls for greater transparency on media ownership and financing with a view to enhancing media independence and pluralism." Censorship by omission Other outlets show similar patterns. In 2020, BIRN Kosovo's flagship investigative show Jeta në Kosovë aired a story on shell companies linked to Blerim Devolli. Shortly afterwards, RTK – Kosovo's public broadcaster – cancelled the show after a 15-year run. Jeta Xharra, the show's author, said then-RTK Director Ngadhnjim Kastrati privately admitted: 'You caused us problems with that story.' Kastrati would later take a position at ABC News, reportedly tied to a Devolli associate. Kastrati declined to comment on any of Xharra's assertions. Despite several attempts via email, Devolli Corporation's management also declined to comment. Although Kosovo's media regulator initially ruled the BIRN programme had breached ethical standards, a Pristina court overturned that decision in Xharra's favour. The show now airs on TV Dukagjini – owned in part by businessman Ekrem Lluka – where, journalists say, editorial pressure continues. 'There were often instances when I was instructed not to invite certain public figures or politicians to the show,' said former editor Besiana Krasniqi, now with German broadcaster ZDF. Another former journalist recalled a shelved story involving Shaban Gogaj, the son of a major advertiser. 'The editor called her back and told her not to publish the story.' Similar interference reportedly occurred when a story targeted a doctor affiliated with a hospital tied to Lluka's business interests. TV Dukagjini's director Ermal Panduri denied all allegations of editorial interference. Corporate control, public silence The trend persists across multiple networks. ATV, owned by the Tafa brothers – who also control a bank, an insurance company, and a private university – allegedly restricted coverage of higher education and financial regulators between 2022 and 2024. 'We weren't allowed to report on private colleges or anything critical of the Education Ministry, the [university] Accreditation Agency or the Central Bank,' said a former reporter. Ilir Tafa, the owner of ATV, referred the questions to the editorial staff. Leart Hoxha, the editor-in-chief, denied all claims of censorship. At TV1, owned by ISP Telkos, journalists say they were instructed to avoid critical stories about the Interior Ministry, which in 2023 signed a €600,000 VPN deal with the company. Another journalist reported that coverage of the Independent Media Commission (IMC) was muted during Telkos' cable operator licence application – a process later marred by bribery charges against the former IMC head. TV1 owner Hebib Dernjani dismissed such claims. 'You won't find a more independent TV than this one,' he said. But many journalists disagree. 'Even when reporters have all the facts about corruption or other abuses,' said Agron Halitaj, a former editor at TV1, 'they often avoid reporting if they know there are close ties between business and politics. Self-censorship has become a tool for survival.' A dangerous new normal The European Federation of Journalists has warned of a growing 'culture of fear' in the region. 'Newsrooms must have editorial autonomy, even from their owners,' said Secretary General Ricardo Gutiérrez. 'Unfortunately, this is not always the case… I am afraid it has become a norm.' Abit Hoxha, a Kosovo-born media researcher at Norway's University of Agder, echoed this concern. 'Media owners are not interested in building independent, professional institutions – they're interested in using the media to shape political outcomes,' he said. 'In this context, professional journalists suffer the most.' As Kosovo moves forward in its bid for EU membership, the erosion of press freedom poses a stark challenge – not only for its journalists, but for the democratic legitimacy of its institutions. Without meaningful reforms to break the nexus between media and business interests, truth may continue to take a back seat to profit. (cs, mk)
