Sky ECC app data sheds light on a bloody chain of murders orchestrated by an Albanian drug trafficker, in revenge for the killer of his brother in the United Kingdom.
On August 8, 2020, while Albania was still in quarantine after the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, a photo began circulating on the encrypted Sky ECC app – a communication platform used at the time across Europe to exchange messages away from the attention of law enforcement authorities.
The photo showed a person lying on the ground, partially covered by vegetation. The accompanying message was short and chilling.
"One less cheater, brother," the sender wrote in Spanish. "There are now 4 of the same family, brother, and until I kill all the men, I won't stop," he added in a triumphant tone.
Five years later, investigations by the Special Prosecution Office Against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK) would reveal that the sender of the message was a man from northern Albania, who was at enmity with another family in the area.
Prosecutors believe the man in the photo was a 21-year-old who had disappeared the day before the message was sent. For months, outside of the encrypted Sky ECC app, he had been missing and no one knew of his fate.
In December 2020, a farmer's dog wandered into an olive grove located above an abandoned quarry near the village of Shpërdhet in Mamurras. When the animal returned, it was carrying a human skull in its mouth.
Police officers who arrived at the scene found more bones. Next to them, they also discovered a pair of white boxer-style underwear, as well as a pair of black sports shorts with the inscription "Nike".
Forensic experts would determine that the remains belonged to a young man, probably between twenty and thirty years old, who had been shot to death. A DNA test later confirmed his identity as Klevis Lleshi, who had lost contact with his family for several months.
Statements from the victim's family, as well as information gathered by the police, raised suspicions that his disappearance was related to blood feud motives. The feud that allegedly cost the young man his life stretched back more than a decade and beyond Albania's borders.
In 2012, a member of the Lleshi family committed a murder in the United Kingdom. The murder set off a chain of revenge. Over the next decade, three members of the Lleshi family were killed or disappeared, one after the other.
In 2013, Xhavit Lleshi, Klevis' father, was killed. Four years later, in 2017, his uncle, Hajredin Lleshi, was also killed. That same year, the latter's son, Artan Lleshi, also disappeared, and was last seen in the Kamza area and has not yet been found.
Burnt car in Southampton
On April 10, 2012, on a quiet rural road north of the city of Southampton in the United Kingdom, local police discovered a burnt-out silver Mercedes. In the back of the car was the charred body of a man.
A post-mortem examination of the victim's body revealed that he had no smoke in his lungs, indicating that he had died before the car caught fire. Further investigations by British police revealed that the victim was 29-year-old Agim Hoxha, a crane operator living in Southampton, originally from Albania.
Police investigations led to the arrest of two suspects and the filing of murder charges against Arben Lleshi, a 25-year-old Albanian resident of Southampton, a friend of the victim.
Hoxha had lived in the UK for 12 years, working on various construction sites in Southampton and London. But during the trial, the court heard evidence linking the victim to drug trafficking. After his death, police discovered £42,000 hidden in one of his two cars.
In February 2013, after a six-week trial at Winchester Crown Court, Arben Lleshi was found guilty of murdering Agim Hoxha and burning his body, and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
The Disappearance of Klevis Lleshi
Klevis Lleshi was the son of Arben Lleshi's uncle. On the day he disappeared, witnesses saw him at the exit of the Shkopet tunnel and later outside a bar in Mamurras, with a group of young people smoking cigarettes.
Behind him, in a black Mercedes, was Sabah Nuzi, a young man whom investigators would later identify as a key player in the victim's disappearance.
The group chatted for a few minutes before dispersing. Some of the men went into the cafe, while Lleshi remained outside with Nuzi and another person sitting in a car.
After that, he disappeared.
It would take years for prosecutors to reconstruct what happened next.
Following the administration of Sky ECC application communications by French authorities, SPAK discovered a series of messages discussing the murder and disappearance of Klevis Lleshi.
At the center of these conversations is an account that allegedly belonged to Aureljinjo Kolaveri, the brother of Agim Hoxha, the victim found burned to death in 2012 in Southampton.
Kolaveri is also suspected of being involved in cocaine trafficking between South America and the European Union.
In the afternoon of August 5, 2020, immediately after the disappearance of Klevis Lleshi, Aurelinho Kolaveri sends a photo of the victim's lifeless body to an interlocutor, identifying him as "Xhaviti's son."
Kolaveri says that the murder was committed by a person named "Sabi" - suspected to be Sabah Nuzi - while he himself had traveled to Istanbul. He adds that the killer was contracted through his cousin, Sajmir Kolaveri.
“Se e patëm lënë me e ba ke pallati e u merrte vesh. Po ky e paska marrë makinën e e ka mbaru në makinë,” , shkruan Kolaveri, ndërsa zbulon se vrasësi do të paguhej një shumë prej 50 mijë euro.
Zhdukja e gjurmëve të krimit
Pak ditë pas zhdukjes së Klevis Lleshit, bisedat e Aurelinjo Kolaverit dhe bashkëpunëtorëve të tij në Sky ECC dominohen nga shqetësimi për zbulimin e krimit.
Më 8 gusht 2020, vetëm tre ditë pas ngjarjes, Sajmir Kolaveri i raporton Aurelinjos për reagimin e mjedisit shoqëror dhe të familjarëve të Klevis Lleshit pas zhdukjes së tij. Sajmiri i shkruan Aurelinjos se viktima “nuk pëlqehej” dhe se zhdukja e tij po pritej mirë nga disa.
Në të njëjtën kohë, ata përpiqen të menaxhojnë perceptimin e publikut rreth ngjarjes, duke shpërndarë versionin se Klevis Lleshi mund të jetë ende gjallë, ndërsa paralelisht planifikojnë dërgimin e një ndërmjetësi për të kërcënuar familjarët që të “rrijnë urtë”.
Ndërkohë, më 10 gusht 2020, Sabah Nuzi, i identifikuar si personi që dyshohet se ka kryer vrasjen, merret në pyetje nga policia. Ai mohon çdo dijeni për vrasjen, ndërsa kushërinjtë Kolaveri diskutojnë mbylljen e komunikimeve dhe përdorimin e kodeve të reja për të shmangur gjurmimin.
Frika nga zbulimi shoqërohet me përpjekje për të monitoruar lajmet në rrjetet sociale, ndërsa persona që komentojnë apo përhapin informacione konsiderohen si kërcënim.
Në mes të gushtit, komunikimet tregojnë se Nuzi shfaqet i gatshëm të dhunojë këdo që përmend emrin e tij, përfshirë komentues në rrjetet sociale apo edhe zyrtarë policie.
Në një rast, ai kërkon një makinë të vjedhur për të kryer një tjetër vrasje, ndërsa në një rast tjetër pranon se një automjet i përdorur prej tij është djegur, sepse ishte “mbushur me gjak”. Në të njëjtën kohë, krijohet dhe një alibi të rreme – një versioni sipas të cilit Klevis Lleshi ishte parë duke u larguar drejt Greqisë, për të devijuar hetimin dhe për të fituar kohë.
Nuzi merr para në mënyrë të vazhdueshme nga kushurinjtë Kolaveri, përgjithësisht shuma të vogla për shpenzime apo borxhe, por edhe mbështetje logjistike dhe këshilla për të shmangur arrestimin. Në një moment, diskutohet hapur nevoja për ta larguar nga Shqipëria, për ta çuar në Gjermani dhe për ta nxjerrë nga vëmendja e autoriteteve.
Në fillim të shtatorit 2020, Sabah Nuzi i mbijeton një atentati dhe, sipas komunikimeve të koduara, kundërpërgjigjet me një tjetër vrasje, duke e lidhur ngjarjen me të njëjtin zinxhir hakmarrjeje.
“E mbarova njanin… e hodha në Shkopet”, shkruan Nuzi në një mesazh për Aurelinjo Kolaverin më 3 shtator. “Por para se mi ra, i thashë me më tregu kush ju ka shty,” shton ai.
Në dhjetor 2020, kur në Mamurras gjenden mbetjet kockore që dyshohet se i përkasin Klevis Lleshit, komunikimet marrin një kthesë tjetër.
Those involved try to obtain information from within the police, discuss the possibility of interfering with DNA tests and even manipulating evidence. At the same time, orders are given to burn phones and destroy any traces that could link them to the crime.
Murder in prison
In another intercepted communication on Sky ECC, dated August 14, 2020, the conversation between Aurelinho Kolaveri and Sajmir Kolaveri suggests that the group was considering the possibility of another murder, this time inside the prison.
According to the file, Sajmir Kolaveri forwarded to Aurelinho a request from a person named "Gysi", who wanted to meet "someone" to talk about how two people who were in prison could be "finished off".
Continuing the conversation, Sajmir expressed doubts about the realization of such a scenario, telling his cousin that, although they knew people in prison, no one would undertake to do it.
Then, he brings up the name of Agim Pepa, asking if he should have been spoken to, with the excuse that he also "gets the job done."
According to the acts cited in the decision, this concerns Agim Ndue Shurbi, known as Agim Pepa, sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of police officer Gani Malushi in 2003.
Pepa was serving her sentence in Peqin prison, where Arben Lleshi was also held. In 2016, Lleshi was extradited from the United Kingdom to Albania, after his murder conviction was upheld by an Albanian court.
For the prosecution, this communication suggests that Aurelinho Kolaveri was seeking to contact people with serious sentences, with the aim of organizing a murder inside the cell.
Sajmir Kolaveri tries to stop him, telling him not to "dream with his eyes wide open" and implying that, for the moment, the priority remained the people outside.
However, on December 15, 2023, Aurelinho Kolaveri's macabre dream becomes reality. Arben Lleshi is shot dead inside Peqin prison by another life-sentenced prisoner.
Lleshi's body remained in the morgue for more than 11 months, after it was not retrieved by relatives who feared retaliation. In November 2024, he was buried by municipal workers in Mat. /BIRN/
