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Brother of Interior Minister Xhafaj convicted as a member of an organised international criminal network.
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Newly revealed Italian documents made public by the Democratic Party of Albania, confirm that Interior Minister Fatmir Xhafaj has publicly lied when he declared during a Parliamentary session on September 2017, that he had no knowledge of his brother’s conviction in Italy for drug trafficking.
Interior Minister Xhafaj has also refused to answer to opposition questions as why his convicted brother is not arrested and extradited to Italy to serve his 7 year jail sentence.
According to the revealed documents, Agron Xhafaj, alias "Goni", is convicted by a final sentence issued by an Italian court on 25 September 2012 (High Appeal decision no. 2232).
The final judicial sentence was issued by the Italian High Appeal Court, meaning that all appeals have been overruled. Xhafaj has been initially sentenced with 7 years and 2 months of imprisonment by the First Instance Court of Lece (Italy) on 12.10.2008. This sentence has been reconfirmed by the Appeal Court on 25.01.2011 and later on by the High Appeal Court through a final judicial sentence.
Based on the Italian final sentence and associated criminal files, Agron Xhafaj, the brother of the current Albanian Minister of Interior results to have been convicted:
1. For his participation in an organised criminal group involved in the trafficking of narcotics between Europe and the United States. Agron Xhafaj was part of a deal among two criminal groups negotiating up to 50 kg of heroin and 300 kg of cocaine. The agreement had first to be tested after the submission of a heroin sample of 1 kg. An undercovered DEA agent was part of the operation, to whom Agron Xhafaj handed over 1kg of heroin on behalf of the Italian criminal group.
2. For running a network of heroin, cocaine and hashish dealers in the Italian city of Bologna.
3. For his cooperation on importing narcotics from Albania into the Italian territory, including its transport, taking into account that Xhafaj was personally involved in the withdrawal and the stocking in the outskirts of the Salento coast.
4. For his cooperation with other individuals in the illegal possession of narcotics, considering that Xhafaj was a distribution agent of heroin and cannabis.
The investigation confirmed the existence of a criminal organized international network involved in the trafficking of narcotics between Albania, Italy, Poland and the United States. The network was involved in the heroin, cocaine and cannabis trafficking from Albania to the Salento coasts, including its distribution throughout Italy via a network of Albanian dealers. The network had several logistical bases in various areas of northern Italy (Parma, Imperia, Venice and Bologna…) with ramifications in Poland and the US. Agron Xhafaj was the head of the drug distribution network in Bologna.
Based on the Italian prosecution's request of 8.05.2002, Agron Xhafaj was directly involved in the trafficking of 90 kg of heroin, 300 kg of cocaine and other cases in which he was direct supplier of heroin. There are at least 8 cases, according to the Italian court of Lece, confirming the direct involvement of Agron Xhafaj in the international trafficking of heroin, cocaine, and cannabis.
Click HERE for the full Italian sentence.
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