On Monday, the Court of Appeals for Serious Crimes sentenced 8 people to a cumulative 149 years in prison for robbing €4.6 million from Tirana’s Mother Teresa Airport in April 2019.
6 of the culprits were sentenced to between 19 and 27 years in prison, while the remaining two were given 8 years and a half as accessories to the crime.
All convicts will have their sentences reduced by one-third since they accepted to go through an accelerated trial.
On April 9, 2019, the cash cargo of a commercial bank was robbed from the tarmac at Tirana International Airport in Rinas.
Five individuals in a van reportedly broke the security fence at the airport and approached an airplane that was ready to take off. They took possession of the money as it was being transferred from the armored cash transport vehicle into the plane heading to Vienna. The armed robbers fled a few minutes before the plane was scheduled to depart.
After fleeing, a police car that was allegedly patrolling the area intercepted them and a firefight ensued. One of the robbers was shot to death, and his accomplices fled.
