Moisi Habilaj, the cousin of disgraced ex-Interior Minister Saimir Tahiri has escaped from his home in Italy where he was under house arrest.
According to the media, the authorities in Italy have declared Habilaj who was convicted of international drug trafficking, as wanted. His escape was discovered when police went to his house to transfer him to prison, only to find he was not there.
He was arrested in 2017 as the leader of a drug trafficking gang that was working in Albania and Italy. A Catania court sentenced him to 15 years in prison in June 2019 for his role as the leader of a gang involved in drug and arms trafficking.
Then in 2020, he was released from prison following an appeal, but he was transferred to house arrest instead. He agreed to stay in the San Michele di Ganzaria area at his brother’s house. Habilaj had also appealed that decision but the Court decided to uphold the initial decision which would require sending him back to prison. It was at this point that he went on the run.
It was alleged that the Habilaj gang carried out their activities under the protection of Tahiri while he was a minister. A police official accused Tahiri of lending his personal car to them to be used for drug trafficking because border police would not search a ministerial car. Tahiri denied any relation to the gang and said he sold the car prior to becoming a minister. Documents from the car registry shos it still belonged to him and was registered in his name.
He then said he had sold it but not declared the income, essentially admitting to tax evasion. He was not prosecuted for this. It then came to light that Tahiri in fact travelled to Greece in the vehicle on several occasions during the months after he claimed he sold it.
Tahiri faced charges of international drug trafficking, criminal gang activity, and participation in a criminal gang in Albania but walked away with a sentence of three years probation for abuse of office. This sentence is under appeal. The ex-minister then engaged a US reputation management firm to clear his name with the political and intelligence community in the US. The value of the contract for the three months of services was EUR 20,000 or equivalent to 18 months salary in his previous ministerial role.
You can read more about the case here.
