Luxury hotels and resorts in Albania, increasingly popular with British tourists, may have been financed by profits from drug sales in the United Kingdom, according to prosecutors and investigators. The Albanian cocaine mafia, operating internationally, is alleged to have funneled billions of pounds from its illegal businesses into the construction and tourism industries in their home country.
The Ajman Park resort, a five-star establishment featuring a helipad, lake views, and extensive terraces, is cited as an example. Prosecutors claim the resort was partly funded by millions of pounds generated by an Albanian cocaine mafia operating in the UK. The resort's owner, Julian Balla, is reportedly on the run, wanted for alleged connections to cocaine trafficking networks, drug smuggling, and money laundering.
This alleged pattern extends beyond Ajman Park. A significant portion of the new high-rise buildings in Tirana, the capital, and numerous resorts along the Aegean and Ionian coasts are suspected to have been constructed with illicit gains from drug sales in Britain. Over the past four years, more than 450 Albanian-run cannabis factories have been discovered in the UK, forming a trade estimated to be worth £2.6 billion annually.
Albanian officials stated they have seized 2,500 properties from suspected criminals, including several high-end tourist resorts, over recent years. However, this is considered a fraction of the assets being funded by criminal money. One economist estimates that up to £1.3 billion of criminal cash is injected into the Albanian economy annually, with construction serving as the primary vehicle for money laundering.
Prosecutors report that their work is hindered by the Albanian government allegedly turning a blind eye to this phenomenon due to the substantial investment provided by criminals, a situation an analyst described as 'state-sponsored money laundering.'
The Copja brothers, Franc and Hajdar, are central to these allegations. They are accused of masterminding a global smuggling operation from a house in Tottenham, North London. Along with Ervis Cela, they allegedly used a network of 30 enforcers to smuggle billions of pounds worth of cocaine from South America to Europe, with much of it trafficked into the UK, considered the most lucrative market.
In 2024, the Copja brothers were charged by Albania's Special Court Against Corruption and Organised Crime with seven murders, two attempted murders, drug trafficking, and money laundering. Franc Copja is accused of offering £4.3 million for a hit on a rival gang leader amidst a violent dispute over a missing cocaine shipment. Intercepted messages allegedly show Franc funneling at least £6.4 million into various high-end construction projects in Albania. These include four villas in a luxury development called Mandarine Drive, a coastal apartment, and Solis Farm, an agrotourism resort.
Franc Copja was sentenced to life in prison in Belgium for a separate murder conviction earlier this year. His brother remains at large, last known to be in Dubai. Ervis Cela, already a fugitive for murder and kidnapping in Italy, is in custody in Albania awaiting trial.
The influx of money into Albania's construction sector began in the late 1990s with early migrants sending money home. The business significantly expanded about a decade ago as Albanian gangs began dominating the cocaine and cannabis markets in Western Europe, particularly Britain. In 2022, an intelligence manager with the National Crime Agency noted that hundreds of millions of pounds were leaving the UK to be laundered in Albania, either through the banking system or for construction work.
Intelligence suggests that informal money transfer systems like Hawala, and more recently cryptocurrency, are used to move funds undetected across borders. The Copja brothers allegedly used a combination of methods, with prosecutors seizing £7.3 million in cryptocurrency and over £1 million in cash.
Despite the scale of the problem, some efforts are underway to combat it. The Albanian agency for Seized and Confiscated Assets Management has identified 2,500 properties and assets worth £24 million seized over the past decade due to suspected links to criminal money. Some of these properties have been repurposed for public use or military training.
In a notable success, Emiljan Shega, convicted of cocaine trafficking in London in 2013, had assets worth approximately £2.5 million seized in Albania nearly a decade later.
Last month, the UK and Albanian governments announced a joint agreement to share proceeds from criminal assets seized from gangs operating between the two countries. Both governments hailed the agreement as a significant step in pursuing organized crime proceeds across borders. However, some analysts remain skeptical, suggesting that while such measures may cause criminals to hesitate, a comprehensive government commitment to fighting all forms of crime, including money laundering, is necessary for a lasting solution.