{"id":117722,"date":"2025-10-15T08:16:55","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T06:16:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.reporter.al\/?p=117722"},"modified":"2026-05-07T14:15:48","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T12:15:48","slug":"exchange-hidden-financial-networks-behind-albanian-drug-trafficking-groups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reporter.al\/en\/2025\/10\/15\/exchange-hidden-financial-networks-behind-albanian-drug-trafficking-groups\/","title":{"rendered":"Exchange: the hidden financial networks behind Albanian drug-trafficking groups"},"content":{"rendered":"

Inside the noisy labyrinth of columns that hold up an apartment building opposite the Bank of Albania, money is king.<\/p>\n

The area in the heart of Tirana is known in collective memory as “Dollari” and represents the informal exchange-bureau market of the long transition years. Within the narrow space, several Exchange points sit next to one another, and outside, dozens of men hold wads of cash in their hands.<\/p>\n

The currency-exchange businesses are barely distinguishable from one another; they have similar customer counters and advertise the symbols of the Euro, the Dollar or the British Pound in glaring colours.<\/p>\n

But behind the facade, one of them was operating as a hidden channel for circulating millions of euros of unlawful money for the account of one of the most powerful Albanian groups in international drug trafficking.<\/p>\n

The foreign-exchange point “B.Lika, Cimi & Keni” was performing, according to the Special Prosecution Office, the role of an informal bank for the organisation led by brothers Franc and Hajdar \u00c7opja \u2014 accused of a bloody series of executions in Albania and of trafficking tonnes of cocaine from South America to European Union countries during 2018\u20132022.<\/p>\n

Investigation documents suggest that within the narrow exchange point, deposits of crime money were stored, which were then distributed in smaller instalments to members of the group or transferred through complicated schemes thousands of kilometres from Albania to guarantee cocaine payments.<\/p>\n

SPAK prosecutor Klodian Braho told BIRN that during the 2-year investigations they had documented the transfer of large sums of money through the Hawala system or transactions in cryptocurrencies.<\/p>\n

“It has been proven by investigations that the persons involved in this activity have transferred money on behalf of the criminal organisation to several countries in Europe, the United Arab Emirates, and to countries in Central and South America,” he said.<\/p>\n

The foreign-exchange point “B.Lika, Cimi & Keni” is owned by Bashkim Lika, 55, and Maklen Mici, 45 \u2014 both arrested last August on charges of money laundering, committed in collaboration in the form of a criminal organisation.<\/p>\n

But it is not the only one.<\/p>\n

The transformation of Albanian organised-crime groups into enterprises with global reach appears to have created fertile ground for setting up parallel systems for fast money circulation outside traceable official channels.<\/p>\n

Law-enforcement institutions believe that part of this mechanism includes certain currency-exchange businesses or money-transfer agencies, which are operating as separate structures in the service of criminal groups to maximise their profits.<\/p>\n

While the scope of this phenomenon is still unclear, economics experts believe that criminal networks are exploiting legal loopholes and weak monitoring and supervision mechanisms in the foreign-exchange market.<\/p>\n

“Bank of Albania and tax-authority inspections are often carried out formally\u2026 without analysing in depth the origin of the funds or the patterns of the transactions,” said Eduart Gjokutaj, an economic consultant and head of the “Altax” centre.<\/p>\n

“In this context, criminal actors have exploited legal loopholes by registering the points in the names of relatives or by using separate accounts to hide transactions, escaping direct control,” he added.<\/p>\n

The lawyer for the accused, Ardian Visha, told BIRN that the suspicions raised against Bashkim Lika are non-existent, while those against Maklen Mici have been raised solely on the basis of communications on the SKY ECC application, without being supported by other evidence. Visha calls the accusations of participation in a criminal organisation absurd.<\/p>\n

“The Special Prosecution Office’s suspicion is supported by guesses arising from data obtained from unlawful sources of evidence-gathering. Moreover, this data is not given in its authentic version, but as a selection chosen and commented on by the prosecuting authority,” the lawyer said, claiming that between Mici and \u00c7opja there is at the same time a lack of human relationship and of criminal cooperation.<\/p>\n

Systemic problems<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
Headquarters of the Bank of Albania | Photo: BIRN\/Nensi Bogdani<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the past decade, the number of currency-exchange offices in Albania has almost doubled, from 356 licensed businesses in 2014 to 640 such businesses at the end of 2024.<\/p>\n

But this is a market with major fluctuations, since according to the Bank of Albania, every year dozens of businesses cease their activity and just as many new operators appear on the horizon.<\/p>\n

The market also appears to have major problems.<\/p>\n

Of 166 inspections carried out by the Bank of Albania in the past three years, 132 licences have been revoked, administrative measures have been taken against 46 businesses, and warnings have been issued to 18 others.<\/p>\n

Even though currency-exchange points are subjects of the law on “Preventing money laundering and the financing of terrorism” \u2014 under which they must identify every person who carries out transfers above 100,000 lek and report every transaction above 1 million lek \u2014 these obligations are often bypassed.<\/p>\n

The Bank of Albania told BIRN in a written response that inspections had identified as the main violations the lack of reporting, failure to comply with procedures, and shortcomings in keeping the supporting documentation for currency exchanges.<\/p>\n

The inspections have also revealed the lack of a centralised system for analysing and identifying irregularities, as well as the lack of documentation of suspicious cases.<\/p>\n

The Financial Intelligence Agency, an institution under the Ministry of Finance and the authority responsible for implementing the law “On preventing money laundering\u2026,” also classifies currency-exchange businesses as risk activities.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the Agency told BIRN in response to a request for information that reports concerning these businesses were sporadic.<\/p>\n

Referring to reports from banks or notaries, the Agency said the main suspicions concerned cash transactions, the lack of supporting documents, and the involvement of currency-exchange shareholders in business investments or in real-estate purchases on behalf of suspect persons.<\/p>\n

Referrals to the prosecutor’s office, however, are negligible.<\/p>\n

The Financial Intelligence Agency told BIRN that during 2024 it had referred only 1 case to law-enforcement institutions, the typology of which was the cash withdrawal of large sums whose final destination was unknown, from the accounts of persons under investigation.<\/p>\n

From Hawala to cryptocurrencies<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
A simplified scheme of the Hawala money-transfer system. Illustration: Jurgena Tahiri.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In August 2020, an emissary of Franc \u00c7opja initially mistook the address while looking for the Exchange owned by Bashkim Lika and Maklen Mici in the place known as “Dollari”.<\/p>\n

Three men set into motion and exchanged details and photos through the SKY ECC application to direct him to the right point, where he was later to withdraw 215,500 euros split into four instalments.<\/p>\n

The messages exchanged on SKY ECC fell into the hands of the Special Prosecution Office three years later, making possible a meaningful discovery about the evolution of Albanian organised crime.<\/p>\n

The investigations documented the existence of a group of people who used the currency-exchange business as camouflage, while in fact carrying out fast-money-circulation operations on behalf of the \u00c7opja group.<\/p>\n

The prosecution believes that Lika and Mici performed this service through the Hawala system and through cryptocurrency transactions.<\/p>\n

Hawala is an informal system used since the 8th century in India and in the countries of the Arab world to transfer money from one country to another, without the need for the money to physically move.<\/p>\n

The scheme works on a relationship of trust and involves a network of agents in different countries who accept and distribute deposits on each other’s behalf. If money is handed over, say, in London, a person can withdraw it within hours from a second agent in Tirana by presenting a unique code \u2014 known as a Token \u2014 while the agents in London and Tirana reconcile their account books.<\/p>\n

In addition to archaic money-transfer methods, millions of dollars are also suspected to have been transferred from the foreign-exchange point “B.Lika, Cimi & Keni” through virtual currencies. During the investigations of the \u00c7opja group, prosecutors traced and seized cryptocurrencies worth 11.5 million dollars.<\/p>\n

After the arrest of Lika and Mici in August 2024, the Special Prosecution Office uncovered a similar second group in July 2025, accused of enabling the transfer of considerable sums originating from drug trafficking between Switzerland and Albania.<\/p>\n

The main accused in this file, Ervis Ferizaj, 47, was arrested in September 2024 in Lucerne, Switzerland, on charges of narcotics trafficking, money laundering, and structured criminal-group activity. Ferizaj was unreachable for comment.<\/p>\n

In Tirana, Ferizaj is suspected of controlling two currency-exchange points owned by his father and his wife, in order to camouflage the transfer of unlawful money from Switzerland to Albania.<\/p>\n

According to data sent by the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office of Switzerland, the money also circulated according to the Hawala system on behalf of other persons.<\/p>\n

“\u2026citizen Ervis Ferizaj and his collaborators, in Switzerland and in Albania, have stored and managed money coming from criminal activities of selling narcotic substances; have provided cash as part of a ‘hawala’ system in order to transfer money to other persons,” reads the Prosecutor’s file.<\/p>\n

According to prosecutor Klodian Braho, persons involved in the informal money-transfer systems share a common interest with criminal groups: that of securing fast profits. These networks earn percentage commissions both for cash transfers through the Hawala system and for transactions in cryptocurrencies.<\/p>\n

According to Braho, an agent earns 6 to 15 per cent of the total value transferred in physical money through the Hawala system, while the commissions for cryptocurrency transactions vary from 0.5 to 2 per cent of the total value.<\/p>\n

In any case, these networks offer criminal groups the advantage of avoiding the tracking of money through their formal activities.<\/p>\n

“This informal system makes it possible to transfer money in fast time and at the same time avoids reporting and control of the origin of the money, since the agents do not implement the legal and bylaw provisions for registering and identifying the senders and recipients, do not implement the legal provisions for verifying the lawful source of the money being transferred and the ceiling amounts for transfers,” Braho told BIRN.<\/p>\n

Risky businesses<\/strong><\/p>\n

In addition to financial infrastructures operating in the shadows, Albanian criminal groups are believed to have also exploited other economic and social factors mainly linked to the period accompanying the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

According to Gjokutaj of Altax, after the pandemic many economic activities moved into informality, significantly increasing the use of foreign currency and cryptocurrencies for undocumented transactions.<\/p>\n

“Another factor was the rise in demand for cash and alternative channels for transferring money, which has facilitated the operation of illegal systems such as Hawala,” Gjokutaj said.<\/p>\n

“Meanwhile, the legal mechanisms and the controls of the Bank of Albania were not adapted in time to the changes in the market, while the increase in exchange points was not accompanied by increased monitoring,” he stressed.<\/p>\n

Gjokutaj also considers that, with the rise of virtual transactions, managing the foreign-exchange market has become many times more complicated.<\/p>\n

“The lack of technological capacity to monitor the links between virtual currency and cash transactions, and the risks that dirty money will be integrated into the formal economy, constitute an ongoing challenge for the supervisory authorities,” he stressed.<\/p>\n

Law-enforcement institutions also call for increased vigilance toward these businesses, both from administrative supervisors and from investigators.<\/p>\n

“In our assessment, currency-exchange and money-transfer activities should be assessed as activities at high risk of being involved in informal transfers of money that may have a criminal origin\u2026,” prosecutor Klodian Braho said.<\/p>\n

In response to these concerns, the Bank of Albania declared that it is in the process of approving a new regulation for currency-exchange points, providing, according to the Bank, for verifying the origin of capital and the reputation of shareholders, but also for limiting the values that may be held in cash or undergo transactions.<\/p>\n

“These changes relate to the aspects of preventing money laundering and the financing of terrorism, but also to the need to strengthen the rules of market entry of entities that are financially stable and have integrity,” the Bank of Albania declared.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Inside the noisy labyrinth of columns that hold up an apartment building opposite the Bank of Albania, money is king. The area in the heart of Tirana is known in collective memory as “Dollari” and represents the informal exchange-bureau market of the long transition years. Within the narrow space, several Exchange points sit next to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1468,"featured_media":114273,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Data secured from investigation files reveals sporadic cases in which currency-exchange businesses in Albania are serving as masked fronts for the illegal circulation of millions of euros via the Hawala system and cryptocurrencies, in the service of drug-trafficking groups.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":"","tve_updated_post":"","tve_custom_css":"","tve_user_custom_css":"","tve_globals":{},"tcb2_ready":0,"tcb_editor_enabled":0,"tve_landing_page":"","_tve_header":"","_tve_footer":""},"categories":[23,26,4],"tags":[9130,798,10421,6087,13406,13403,10253,10254,2750,10422,3180,13404,2473,13405],"coauthors":[13407],"class_list":["post-117722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artikull-kryesor","category-artikull-kryesor-investigime","category-investigime","tag-agjencia-e-inteligjences-financiare","tag-banka-e-shqiperise","tag-bashkim-lika","tag-eduart-gjokutaj","tag-ervis-ferizaj","tag-exchange","tag-franc-copja","tag-hajdar-copja","tag-krimi-i-organizuar","tag-maklen-mici","tag-pastrimi-i-parave","tag-sistemi-hawala","tag-trafiku-i-droges","tag-transaksione-me-kriptovaluta"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reporter.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reporter.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reporter.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reporter.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1468"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reporter.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.reporter.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reporter.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reporter.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reporter.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reporter.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117722"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reporter.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=117722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}