{"id":139,"date":"2025-11-13T14:14:52","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T14:14:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gazetaalbania.com\/?p=139"},"modified":"2025-11-13T14:17:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T14:17:17","slug":"were-colleagues-why-criminals-and-troubled-businessmen-are-recruiting-police-officers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gazetaalbania.com\/?p=139","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWe\u2019re colleagues\u201d: Why criminals and troubled businessmen are recruiting police officers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Police officers from various units \u2014 including Order, \u201cShqiponja,\u201d FNSH, and RENEA \u2014 are being recruited by criminal groups as \u201cemployees,\u201d informants, or collaborators. They are also being hired by businessmen who have legal or personal disputes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The case of Mu\u00e7i Sheqeri, an officer with the Police Oversight Agency (AMP), found inside Gilmando Dani\u2019s car during yesterday\u2019s assassination attempt, is not isolated. Similarly, Ervis Martinaj had a police officer as his personal driver. Jeton Lami, once part of the Operational Unit\u2019s FAST squad, accompanied Martinaj to different locations while he was on the run, and it was later proven that he was the one who dropped Martinaj off in Durr\u00ebs just days before his disappearance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to ongoing investigations, Mu\u00e7i Sheqeri (known as Shaljani) also served as the driver for one of the most dangerous members of Emiljano Shullazi\u2019s gang. He handled the movements of Gilmando Dani \u2014 a man with a serious criminal record, Shullazi\u2019s right-hand man, sentenced to 12 years in prison, a sentence he completed in October 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ardit Hasanbegaj, an officer in the investigative and public order structures in Shkod\u00ebr, was revealed through SKY ECC messages to be part of the Bajraj and P\u00ebllumb Gjoka criminal groups. SPAK charged him with \u201cproviding conditions and material means to commit murder\u201d against citizens Dorian Duli and Ibrahim Lici.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oltion Bistri, former head of Operations and former Police Director of Durr\u00ebs and Lezh\u00eb, was arrested as part of the same group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Henrigert Mitri, former Police Director of Lezh\u00eb, had been recruited by a criminal group involved in cannabis cultivation and trafficking, as well as illegal gambling. His activity was uncovered through SKY ECC communications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dritan Metaj was arrested by SPAK as part of G\u00ebzim \u00c7ela\u2019s group, one of the largest drug trafficking networks in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arlind Ismailukaj, another police officer, was arrested in the same operation, codenamed&nbsp;<em>\u201cFlames at Sea.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>SPAK and other investigative structures believe that more officers are collaborating with criminal groups by providing them with sensitive information. A reliable source told&nbsp;<em>Zoom.al<\/em>&nbsp;that at least one police commissariat chief in Tirana is under investigation for suspected collaboration with one of the most dangerous criminal groups in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These cases show how criminal organizations have managed to recruit or cooperate with law enforcement officers for criminal interests \u2014 from providing physical protection and avoiding police checks to securing confidential information about their own members or rival groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Why crime seeks the police<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>By recruiting police officers, criminal groups gain access to inside information. Officers have detailed knowledge of field operations, patrol movements, ongoing investigations, and surveillance networks. Such information is vital for a criminal group trying to avoid crackdowns or arrests, as they can be warned in advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Police officers are also armed and enjoy a certain degree of immunity from their colleagues while on duty. A police officer driving criminals acts as a guarantee that the vehicle will not be stopped or searched. At checkpoints, a simple \u201cbadge\u201d or the phrase \u201cwe\u2019re colleagues\u201d is often enough to pass without inspection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Which checkpoint would dare stop Gilmando Dani\u2019s car if Mu\u00e7i Sheqeri flashed his AMP ID \u2014 the very agency that oversees the police? Or who would stop Ervis Martinaj\u2019s vehicle if Jeton Lami, from the Operational Unit, showed his credentials?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Similarly, criminal gangs recruit police officers because they carry licensed firearms, making them feel safer in any situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This phenomenon has corrupted the police to the core, especially in recent times. The opposition recently accused the General Director of State Police, Ilir Proda, of providing police vehicles to escort the wanted criminal Suel \u00c7ela from Elbasan to Tirana for a dentist appointment. Instead of strongly denying these accusations, Proda remained silent and issued no response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through the recruitment of police officers, criminal groups buy both safety and territorial control. According to SPAK investigations and SKY ECC intercepts, police officers involved in criminal networks have been used for internal espionage, tracking rivals, manipulating case files, and destroying evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, many businessmen with troubled pasts or current disputes are also hiring police officers \u2014 not necessarily for criminal activity but for personal security. While they may consider this a \u201cnormal employment,\u201d it is still illegal. However, AMP, the agency tasked with monitoring police conduct, appears to have criminal elements within its own ranks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These facts show that the situation has gone beyond ordinary crime \u2014 organized crime has become so powerful that it now exerts control even over police structures. The Ministry of Interior and the State Police may boast about statistics, but Albanians see the reality every day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Police officers from various units \u2014 including Order, \u201cShqiponja,\u201d FNSH, and RENEA \u2014 are being recruited by criminal groups as \u201cemployees,\u201d informants, or collaborators. They are also being hired by businessmen who have legal or personal disputes. The case of Mu\u00e7i Sheqeri, an officer with the Police Oversight Agency (AMP), found inside Gilmando Dani\u2019s car [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":140,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard"},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"jnews_post_split":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,22],"tags":[42,43,45,44,41,46],"class_list":["post-139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aktualitet","category-politics","tag-crime","tag-gilmando-dani","tag-ilir-proda","tag-muci-sheqeri","tag-police","tag-sky-ecc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gazetaalbania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gazetaalbania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gazetaalbania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gazetaalbania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gazetaalbania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=139"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gazetaalbania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":141,"href":"https:\/\/gazetaalbania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139\/revisions\/141"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gazetaalbania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gazetaalbania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gazetaalbania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gazetaalbania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}