Ownership as documented
not publicly documented here
Conflicting records. The research disagrees; every version is shown and none has been chosen as correct.
- Ownership
- not publicly documented hereFrom the research record · cites:
- Exclusive: Berisha deceived even the internationals about cannabis: 138 licences, zero permits (opens in a new tab)Shqiptarja · unknown · journalism · EN
- not publicly documented in this runFrom the research record
- not publicly documented hereFrom the research record · cites:
Description
Albanian daily. Source for SPAK, court and BoA reporting. Its 2025 reporting disputes the claimed 138 cannabis licences.
Other accounts in the research (1 field worded differently)
This record appears in more than one research record. The main text above comes from one; the other versions are kept here unedited.
- Description
- Albanian daily. Source for SPAK, court and BoA reporting. Its 2025 reporting disputes the claimed 138 cannabis licences.From the research record
- Albanian daily. Reported BoA purchases and critical framing, and carried the Tabaku (2018) and Gjokutaj/Radonshiqi (2026) pieces.From the research record
Contracts and money
Figures recorded for the cases linked to this organisation. A figure here is not necessarily paid to or by this organisation; check payer and payee.
Guardia di Finanza aerial estimate: Lazarat-area cannabis 2013 (319 ha; over 1,000 t)
€4,000,000,000
otherSource label: UnverifiedStated definition: Estimate of market value from aerial imagery (per Italian financial police as reported). Not a measured sales figure.
Date: 2013 · Payer: not applicable · Payee: not applicable
- Gangs based in Lazarat produce about 900 metric tons of cannabis a year (AP, June 2014) (opens in a new tab)AP / Fox News · Jun 2014 · journalism · EN
Guardia di Finanza estimate: Lazarat ~900 t a year, value EUR 4.5bn (2014)
€4,500,000,000
otherSource label: UnverifiedStated definition: Estimate; about half of Albania's GDP per the same reporting. Not measured.
Date: Jun 2014 · Payer: not applicable · Payee: not applicable
- Amid heavy gunfire, Albanian police battle to restore law to farming village turned pot empire (opens in a new tab)AP / Fox News · Jun 2014 · journalism · EN
Interior Ministry: market value of cannabis destroyed in 2014 (national)
€6,400,000,000
seizureSource label: Officially reportedStated definition: Official claim of market value of seized and destroyed cannabis nationally, more than 60% of GDP (per officials). Value method not published.
Date: 2014 · Payer: not applicable · Payee: not applicable
- 6.4 billion EUR of drugs seized in 2014 (opens in a new tab)Top Channel · unknown · journalism · EN
Habilaj group turnover (Catania investigation)
€20,000,000
otherSource label: Officially reportedStated definition: Reported turnover from Italian prosecution; not an audited figure. Year not confirmed.
Date: unknown · Payer: unknown · Payee: Habilaj group
- 39 Habilaj: Prokuroria e Katanias: trafikuan 20 milione euro droge (opens in a new tab)Shqiptarja · unknown · journalism · SQ
Diber File 184: dismissal (time-barred), no amount
No amount recorded
otherSource label: Officially reportedStated definition: No money figure. Vote-buying case; price per vote not stated in this source.
Date: 18 Dec 2020 · Payer: not applicable · Payee: not applicable
- Dosja 184 prokuroria Dibër kërkon pushimin e çështjes (opens in a new tab)Shqiptarja · Dec 2020 · journalism · SQ
Reported price of one vote in Durres (2017 elections)
€1.4
200 lek
paymentSource label: Under investigationStated definition: Figure from Top Channel reporting on the wiretap context; not a court finding.
Date: 2017 · Payer: unknown · Payee: voters (as alleged)
- Durres vote costs 200 ALL (1.4 Euro) (opens in a new tab)Top Channel · unknown · journalism · EN
Cash seized at Durres port (two Toyota Yaris), 2018
€3,400,000
seizureSource label: Officially reportedStated definition: Police seizure; court ordered confiscation to the state. Source of cash not established in the sources reviewed.
Date: 24 Jun 2018 · Payer: unknown · Payee: state (confiscation)
- Apeli i GJKKO konfiskon 3.4 mln eurot e Toyota Yaris i kalojne shtetit (opens in a new tab)Shqiptarja · 24 Jun 2018 · journalism · SQ
Officials and people linked
Statement published by Shqiptarja, 11 May 2018
Evidence: Shqiptarja article, 11 May 2018 (fetched).
Investigations and cases
Sorted by reported money, then by linked people and their legal status. The money figure is the largest single reported figure, not a total.
From 2013
Lazarat cannabis economy and the 2014 police raid
Lazarat, a village in southern Albania (Vlora region), became the centre of a cannabis economy in the 2010s. Italian financial police (Guardia di Finanza) used aerial photographs to estimate output…
Status: Historic. Cultivation shifted, reduced, and recorded as 'considerably lower' outdoors by 2022 (EUDA). Several local figures remain disputed.
From unknown
Habilaj family cannabis trafficking (Albania to Italy)
Italian prosecutors in Catania ran a long investigation into a group run by the Habilaj family that moved cannabis from Albania to Italy. Reports describe a turnover of about EUR 20m. Moisi Habilaj…
Status: Convicted in Italy. Reported arrest in Albania. Some family members reportedly still sought. Asset status reported as partly lifted.
From 2013
Saimir Tahiri: Interior Minister, abuse-of-office conviction
Tahiri was Interior Minister in the period of the Lazarat crackdown. Opposition figures and a former police inspector say he protected a car and drug links. FTM reports that Italian investigators…
Status: Convicted of abuse of office at first instance; appeal reported as pending in one source. Status to be checked on the court record.
From 2017
Electiongate: Durres vote buying with the Avdylaj gang (File 339)
Leaked prosecution wiretaps, published by Bild in June 2019, include conversations between Durres Mayor Vangjush Dako and leaders of the Avdylaj gang about votes in the 2017 parliamentary elections.…
Status: Eleven low-ranking commissioners convicted. No senior official convicted in the sources reviewed.
From Sep 2016
Diber vote buying, 2016 partial elections (File 184)
Wiretaps published by Bild showed alleged vote buying and threats in the Diber region ahead of the 2016 partial local elections. Arben Keshi, an Interior Ministry official, appears in nearly all 16…
Status: Dismissed (Dec 2020) as time-barred.
From 2016
Emiljano Shullazi organised group (drugs and extortion)
Serious Crimes Court convicted Emiljano Shullazi and others of organising a structured criminal group, including drug trafficking into the EU and extortion. He received 14 years at first instance,…
Status: Convicted (first instance and reportedly on appeal). Appeal date not confirmed.
Sources for this record
Every source the research cites for this record, grouped by its source label. 1 source.
Source label: Under investigationUnder investigation · 1 source
- Publisher
- Shqiptarja
- Date
- unknown