Albania’s Special Prosecution has issued 20 arrest warrants and seized over 100 million euros in assets as it maps out alleged drug money flowing into major construction projects across Albania, including a resort promoted by relatives of Donald Trump.
The exotic Caribbean island of Aruba, with its white-sand beaches and luxury resorts, hosted a group of men from Albania in late January 2019.
Basking under the sun of the Dutch Antilles, thousands of kilometres from Tirana, the men were there to discuss business arrangements centred on three key pillars: the logistics of cocaine trafficking in Latin America, land transactions in the Albanian capital and along the country’s coastline, and development projects involving high-rise towers and tourist resorts.
The key figure at the meeting was Artur Shehu, a controversial character originally from the southern city of Vlora who has spent the past two decades living in Florida in the United States. Also attending the meeting, which was being monitored by foreign law enforcement authorities, were his associates Arben Ismailaj, Elton Memeti, Adrian Rama and Bujar Shehaj.
According to investigations recently conducted by prosecutors Altin Dumani and Elida Kaçkini, initially launched over suspect land transactions in Zvernec, this was one of many international meet-ups Shehu has held to manage his business interests in Albania.
In an order seizing the assets of this network, the Special Prosecution (SPAK) states that “Shehu participated in meetings in Spain, Monaco, Germany and Aruba, among other locations, during which the purchase, transportation and smuggling of large quantities of narcotics into Europe was planned”. The document also mentions meetings with “senior officials of the Albanian state”. They are not named, however.
Investigative files connected to the case, which were obtained by BIRN, shed light on large-scale land fraud schemes along Albania’s coastline and the laundering of proceeds from international cocaine trafficking through real estate projects including high-rise towers under construction in Tirana.
Among the projects alleged by SPAK to be implicated are plots of land designated for the Zvernec resort promoted by Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump. There is no suggestion in the SPAK files that Kushner or his company were involved in any wrongdoing.
The anti-government protests that have gripped Albania this month got their start when construction suddenly began at the Zvernec site, despite ongoing claims of fraudulent land deals.
On June 12, the Special Court authorised 20 arrest warrants on charges of money laundering, participation in organised crime and international drug trafficking. Those named include Artur Shehu, prominent Tirana construction businessmen Ilir Shtufi and Orest Sota, as well as several other individuals allegedly connected either to drug-trafficking operations or disputed land transactions.
The files, stemming from three separate criminal investigations, portray a symbiotic relationship between organised crime and business interests working together to profit from major development projects approved during the past decade under the government of Prime Minister Edi Rama.
Implicated projects and land include the Garden Building and Colonnade towers in Tirana, developed by companies owned by Ilir Shtufi; the Green Coast resort in Palasa in southern Albania, part of the Balfin Group owned by Samir Mane; a sought-after parcel of land near Tirana’s Air Albania Stadium; and vast parcels of lands in Zvernec and other coastal areas linked to Artur Shehu.
Court records suggest that the origins of these real estate empires can be traced back to two decades of fraud, international drug trafficking and official corruption. The assets seized as part of the investigation are worth staggering amounts.
The Aruba summit
A tourist resort on the island of Aruba. Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Exceptionalimages.
Details about meetings attended by Artur Shehu in Mallorca, Germany, Aruba and Belgium emerged through a European investigation conducted in 2019 into the criminal activities of the Osmani Clan.
The documents show that between January 24 and January 31, 2019, investigators conducted surveillance on a series of meetings held on the Caribbean island of Aruba involving a group of Albanians allegedly engaged in drug trafficking.
According to the prosecution file, the trips served a dual purpose. On one level, they were used to coordinate cartel logistics. Investigative material supplied by the Spanish authorities states that those involved were planning the “purchase, transportation and importation of large quantities of drugs into Europe”.
Aruba also served as a venue for discussions about investments in Albania. Belgian investigators cited by SPAK claimed that these investments enjoyed political backing in Tirana.
Belgian documents note that “these meetings appear to be related to real estate projects…
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