Drug Trafficker on the Run in Albania Captured and Convicted for Crimes Committed Between 1999 and 2013 in the Provinces of Macerata, Teramo and Fermo

In recent days in Shijak, Durazzo – Albania, thanks to the extraordinary collaboration between the Carabinieri of the Provincial Command of Fermo and the Albanian police forces, a 49-year-old Albanian, with several criminal records, formerly resident in Porto Sant'Elpidio (FM), was tracked down and arrested.

The operation is part of a context of intense international police cooperation initiated by the Carabinieri of the Fermo Operations Department, and which saw the involvement of the Service for International Police Cooperation at the Central Directorate of Criminal Police (DCPC).

The individual, known to have several aliases, had been actively sought since 2015 and was also listed in the Interpol database with a “Red Notice” (A Red Notice is a notice issued by Interpol at the request of a national police force – the notice is stored in the Interpol database and can be viewed immediately by police forces around the world.)

The arrest was made possible thanks to an accurate investigative activity conducted by the Carabinieri Operations Department, which allowed them to locate the fugitive, burdened by an execution order for imprisonment issued by the Public Prosecutor's Office at the Court of Fermo. This measure, extended at European level in 2023 and at international level in November 2024, provides for a total sentence of four years, eleven months and seventeen days of imprisonment, for crimes of illicit drug trafficking, illegal re-entry into the territory of the State, material forgery and other, committed between 1999 and 2013 in the provinces of Macerata, Teramo and Fermo.

The arrest operation, carried out by the Durres Police, represents a clear example of the effectiveness of cooperation between law enforcement agencies of different countries, an indispensable tool that allows for the effective fight against international crime. Albanian authorities have made the individual available for extradition procedures to Italy.

The Carabinieri express their gratitude to the Albanian authorities and to the Service for International Police Cooperation for the support and synergy that allowed the aforementioned fugitive to be brought to Justice.