In the last few months, five people have been murdered and two others have been abducted in Shkodra, transforming the city into one of the most dangerous hotbeds of crime in the country. In all cases, the police didn’t manage to find any clear investigation tracks, and no arrests have been made.
- On June 18, Mehdi Kavaja, the owner of an auto-repair shop, was executed with a shot in the head.
- On July 15, former police officer Boran Bërçana and his wife Silvana Ndoci were murdered in their car.
- On August 10, Fatbardh Lici was shot at and killed during the day, as he was sitting in a cafe. Bici was the brother-in-law of Lulzim Kulla, known as a strongman in Shkodra.
- On September 1, businessman Arjan Ferracaku was executed in Livadhë.
- Gëzim Hysaj and his nephew Agron Mollaj have been missing for 10 days.
Firearms have been used in all the murders, and the culprits have been careful to avoid leaving behind any identifying clues.
Going off of these mafia assassinations and their circumstances, as well as many other murders and criminal activity in the last few months, one may reasonably come to the conclusion that organized crime in Albania is becoming more powerful and more violent, endangering the lives of citizens, while the Albanian police seems entirely incapable of ensuring rule of law, in addition to solving crimes and arresting the culprits.
