He wanted to leave the drug trafficking network, start a new life, and find a job.
But, after being threatened by two fellow Albanians, 29-year-old KR was shot in the shoulder on July 1.
He was only spared because he managed to hide in a bushy area, not far from the house of his ex-girlfriend’s father in Zianigo di Mirano, Venice.
Today, the investigation by the Carabinieri of the Venice branch, coordinated by the prosecutor’s office, together with their dog handlers from Torreglia and officers from the Mirano and Jesolo stations, led to the arrest of two perpetrators, a 44-year-old and a 39-year-old, both Albanian citizens, accused of attempted murder and illegal possession of a firearm.
Immediately after the incident, the carabinieri found ammunition of the same caliber as the bullet that had hit the victim, as well as drug-related materials, in the homes and cars of the arrested men (one had lived in the same property where the shooting victim had stayed for several months).
In the following days, a complex investigation was launched, supported by technical investigations, surveillance and tracking, with the aim of identifying the perpetrators and reconstructing the motive for the attempted murder.
The Carabinieri managed to trace the armed attack to the dynamics of a drug trafficking network that had developed in Mirano and the surrounding municipalities, of which the arrested men and the injured man were part, and from which the latter wanted to distance himself to begin a journey towards legality: a decision that was not shared by the suspects at all.
After repeated death threats, which had continued since February 2026 and had had no effect on convincing the victim, he took action with the attack on the night of July 1.
The two men, armed with pistols, ambushed the 25-year-old, but were unsuccessful in their attempt to kill him because KR had managed to escape and hide in the vegetation, Italian media reported.
The arrested are currently in prison in Venice and Padua. The criminal proceedings have not been completed.