Ermal Beqiri, wanted for the National Agency for the Information Society (AKSHI) affair, has been arrested in the city of Amiens, France.
The 44-year-old was initially spotted by the French Air and Space Forces, flying a light aircraft over the Penly nuclear power plant.
He was escorted by the French Air Force to Albert Airport where he was stopped by the police for questioning. French media reported that at the time of the stop, three Airtags were found on the Albanian pilot. During questioning, the Albanian pilot stated that the descent had been unintentional, because at that moment, he was talking to his mother on the phone.
But his answers raised suspicions among the police, and for this reason, after communicating with the Albanian side, an arrest was made, because it turned out that he was the much-wanted Ermal Beqiri.
According to the State Police, which reacted on Tuesday evening with an official announcement, Beqiri has been placed in custody and is expected to appear before the Amiens Criminal Court this Wednesday, where he will be officially notified of the international search for him, in order to proceed with extradition procedures to Albania.
Ermal Beqiri is accused of the criminal offenses of “Unlawful Deprivation of Liberty”, “Unlawful Competition through Violence”, committed in a special form of cooperation, that of a structured criminal group, “Violation of Equality of Participants in Tenders or Public Auctions”, “Structured Criminal Group”, “Committing Criminal Offenses by a Criminal Organization and a Structured Criminal Group”, and “Laundering of Proceeds of a Criminal Offense”. Ermal Beqiri is accused of having created a structured criminal group within the AKSHI in collaboration with Ergys Agasin and ordering the kidnapping of businessmen, forcing them under threat to withdraw from tenders.
Beqiri’s companies are suspected of having won tenders worth millions of euros. Former director Mirlinda Karcanaj, former deputy director Hava Delibashi, several businessmen and police officials are under investigation for the AKSHI affair.