Alban Gjidiaj is an Albanian citizen, against whom SPAK has issued an arrest warrant in absentia for involvement in arms trafficking from Albania to the United Kingdom. Gjidiaj has been arrested in London for extradition purposes.
The Daily Mail has published an article from the extradition hearing, where the young man originally from Tropoja has presented claims as to why he should not be extradited to Albania.
"The Albanian fugitive wanted for gun trafficking says he should not be extradited for fear of blood feud over a £25,000 debt," is the headline in the Daily Mail online.
David Ball, who is representing the Albanian state in this extradition process, told the court that the 29-year-old Albanian, along with his older brother, were the hosts in England of a wooden table where 6 firearms with the serial numbers erased and a quantity of ammunition were hidden.
"The role of the wanted person and his brother was allegedly to take this table. It is alleged that there were two previous deliveries in March 2023. It is alleged that the defendant made a phone call and threatened to kill a man if he identified the leader of the group, who was an old friend of the wanted person's older brother," stated David Ball.
Meanwhile, Malcolm Hawkes, Gjidiaj's lawyer, told Judge Daniel Sternberg that the alleged blood feud dated back to a debt his late father had taken out for cancer treatment.
"The wanted person's father was ill and borrowed £25,000 for emergency cancer treatment," he said.
"He died, so according to the law in the canon, the debt passes to the older brother, who was shot, and in October 2011 there was an explosion in his apartment in Tirana."
Gjidiaj told the court that he had come to the UK in fear for his life and that he now feared he would be killed if he returned to Albania.
Alban Gjidiaj's wife, who is expected to give birth to their second child in February 2026, testified and said that there had been incidents with strange visitors on December 29 of last year, then on January 2 and January 4, which were reported to the police, but the police had not responded.
Co-accused by SPAK for arms trafficking is Albani's brother, Almir Gjidiaj, who was arrested in Colombia and is awaiting extradition to Albania.
