SPAK’s crackdown on a group suspected of international cocaine trafficking and money laundering has brought to the surface another investigative lead: suspected negotiations for a construction project in Palasa, where the name of businessman Samir Mane is also mentioned in the managed communications.
At the center of the investigative file are Alfredo Hamzai and Luçiano Koçeku, also known by the alias Artur Koçeku, whom SPAK considers to be persons with an important role in suspected criminal activities related to drug trafficking, money laundering and investment of income in Albania, writes Albeu.com.
The investigative documents show that Hamzai and Koçeku had constant communication between them, not only on issues related to cocaine trafficking and activities abroad, but also on suspected investments in the construction sector in Albania. It is in this part of the file that the project in Palasa appears, an area that in recent years has become one of the most coveted areas for tourist and residential construction on the coast.
According to the SPAK file analyzed by Albeu.com, in September 2020, Alfredo Hamzai and Adrian Rama communicated by phone about the construction of a villa and apartment complex in the Palasa area. Later, investigators also uncovered communications between Hamzai and Luçiano Koçek, where the same project is discussed and the possibility of including Hamzai’s land in a larger residential development.
In a communication dated January 30, 2021, Luçiano Koçeku wrote to Hamzai that he had told “Liri” to go meet “Zamir” to discuss the construction and the land. According to the file, “Liri” is suspected of referring to businessman Ilir Shtufi, while “Zamir” is suspected of referring to Samir Mane. From the photos exchanged in the conversation, investigators say it is proven that the discussions are related to land in the Palasa area.
But the strongest part of the file is related to suspicions of a multi-million euro financial agreement. SPAK highlights that in the communications between the persons under investigation, there is talk of an amount ranging from 2 to 3 million euros, which, according to the managed conversations, would be given to enable the inclusion of Alfredo Hamzai’s land in the residential project.
The file states that the persons under investigation had planned to build around 30 villas and a hotel. The intermediary in the suspected communications with Samir Mane, according to SPAK, is suspected to have been businessman Ilir Shtufi, a name that appears in the conversations of the persons under investigation as the contact who would connect the parties for the project in Palasa.
In another conversation, dated February 24, 2021, Luçiano Koçeku writes to Alfredo Hamzai that he had spoken with “Liri” and “Zamiri”. According to the content administered by SPAK, the latter had asked for 3 million euros for Hamzai’s land to be included in the complex. Investigators suspect that this was about the inclusion of this property in the development related to the “Green Coast” complex.
SPAK goes even further in analyzing the conversations. In one of the communications, Koçek states that “the Zamiri family may ask us for another 1 million in cash.” For investigators, this phrase raises the suspicion that a sum of money could have been given earlier and that the rest was related to the finalization of the agreement for the construction of the villas.
According to the file, the alleged agreement provided for Samir Mane to receive a payment of 3 million euros and to carry out the construction of about 40 villas, of which 20 percent would go to Alfredo Hamzai. As for the hotel, in the managed conversations it is said that Luçiano Koçek had requested it with 120 rooms and that it would be in the interest of Koçek and Hamzai.
In another communication, Alfredo Hamzai talks to a person identified as Ardian Zykaj. From the content of this conversation, according to SPAK, Hamzai claims that the agreement with businessman Samir Mane for the project in Palasa was closed. He writes that Mane would receive 3 million euros to build the villa complex on his property, linking this to a possible addition to the “Green Coast 1” project.
The file also mentions other names that appear in the orbit of this project. SPAK has managed communications between Adrian Rama and Luçiano Koçek, while in another investigative direction Artur Shehu is also mentioned, who is suspected of having helped Alfredo Hamzai to secure properties in the Palasa area. Shehu is also mentioned in the file in connection with other issues, including suspicions of alienation of properties in Zvërnec, where a tourist resort is expected to be built.
The name of businessman Orest Sota also appears in the investigations. According to SPAK, Sota communicated with Alfredo Hamzai about the project in Palasa. Prosecutors note that in August 2020, Hamzai and Sota had conversations that are suspected of being related to the project planned to be built in the “Green Coast 1” area.
This part of the dossier raises a big question mark over how suspected criminal capital seeks to enter the formal economy through construction, especially in the country’s most expensive tourist areas. Palasa, Dhërmi and the southern coast have become magnets for major investments for years, but the SPAK dossier shows that behind some projects there may be hidden dark interests, where land, permits, construction and suspected criminal money meet at the same table.
However, it should be noted that all the data mentioned is part of an investigative file and constitutes suspicions of the prosecution. Up to this stage, Samir Manes’ name appears in the file from the communications of the persons under investigation and from the analysis that SPAK has made of these conversations, but this does not automatically imply criminal liability nor does SPAK have taken the businessman into custody.
The investigations continue and it remains to be seen whether SPAK will deepen its verifications on the Palasa project, on the suspected money trail and on the role of each person mentioned in this scheme. What is now clear from the file is that an investigation launched for cocaine trafficking and money laundering has affected one of the most important and sensitive sectors of the Albanian economy: construction on the coast. /albeu.com/