What exactly is the police in Albania protecting today — public order or organized crime?
Let’s say it plainly: police officers are repeatedly being caught as part of criminal gangs. The midday assassination today at the roundabout of Tirana’s airport — where Gilmando Dani, one of the country’s most notorious criminals, was killed — is a deafening alarm bell.
His driver, who was injured, is Muçi Sheqeri (Shaljani). He turns out to be an agent of the AMP, the Police Oversight Agency — the very structure meant to monitor police officers to ensure they do not break the law.
But as today’s assassination shows, instead of carrying out his state duty, he was behind the wheel of a car driven by a dangerous criminal, Gilmando Dani, Emiljano Shullazi’s right-hand man.
This fact alone destroys public trust in the very officers who are supposed to protect citizens. When a police officer signals a citizen to stop, how can that citizen know whether the person in uniform serves the law — or a criminal gang? There have been many cases where police officers, while on duty, enforce petty violations against citizens, and after their 8-hour shift, place themselves at the service of organized crime.
But as the saying goes, the fish rots from the head. At the top of the police stands Ilir Proda — a senior official whose phone has been seized by SPAK, as he is suspected of involvement in criminal events and leaking information to a criminal organization. The opposition accuses him of serving the Troplini (Pojani) clan of Durrës and Suel Çela. If the director himself is suspected of ties to gangs, what can citizens expect from the rest of the force?
Since Ilir Proda took over the State Police, professional officers who are not part of criminal “structures” have been removed or sidelined from key positions. Prevention of major events is at a critical low — worse than ever. Drug trafficking and money laundering, as reported by international media such as Follow the Money, are reaching terrifying levels.
But today’s incident is no longer a media accusation. It is a fact. After this, Ilir Proda may continue sitting in his office — but citizens can no longer trust him or the police he leads. And with each passing day, they will increasingly wonder whether the police they fund through their taxes serve them — or organized crime.
