Only 20 out of 33 arrest warrants issued by the Durrës Prosecutor's Office in connection with the hazardous waste investigation have been executed. According to the announcement, among the people wanted are the two Turkish administrators of the company, Erdal Demir and Yusus Sezai.
About a year after the seizure, 2,800 tons of hazardous waste from the Kurum company that was returned from Thailand are still being held in containers in Porto Romano. Investigations revealed violations of environmental legislation by the company “Sokolaj” that purchased the waste, as well as by the National Environment Agency and Durrës Customs.
According to the expertise carried out in Italy in December 2025, the waste belongs to the category of EAFD electric furnace dust, classified as hazardous by Albanian and international legislation and with a very high content of zinc and iron, accompanied by lead, copper, manganese, potassium, calcium and sulfur. The constituent elements are considered harmful to human health and the environment.
Prosecutor's Office Announcement:
Expertise proved that the waste on the Moliva XA443A ship is dangerous and toxic, Durrës Prosecution requests security measures for 33 people, 20 are executed; Details
The Prosecutor's Office at the Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction of Durres informs the public that it has carried out and continues to carry out investigative actions within the framework of criminal proceedings No. 1596 of 2024, registered for the criminal offenses: 'Smuggling of prohibited or restricted goods', 'Smuggling by employees related to customs activity', 'Forgery of documents', 'Transportation of waste', 'Waste management', 'Abuse of office' and 'Laundering of the products of a criminal offense or criminal activity', provided for by articles 171-25, 175-25, 186/2, 201/a-25, 201/b-25, 248 and 287/2 of the Criminal Code.
The investigations for this criminal proceeding were initiated after receiving a notification from the Customs Investigation Directorate, which was notified on 25.07.2024 by OLAF (European Anti-Fraud Office-European Commission) about a shipment that was suspected of transporting waste from Albania to Thailand. The General Directorate of Customs and OLAF cooperated to identify and verify the shipment, which evidenced the export of a quantity of 2,816,300 kg by the entity Sokolaj sh.pk. This quantity, loaded into 102 containers, was returned to the Port of Durrës on 28.10.2024 with the ship Moliva XA443A, after it had been rejected by the Thai authorities.
On 08.11.2024, the seizure of 102 containers as material evidence was carried out, which were left for safekeeping and administration by the Agency for the Administration of Seized and Confiscated Assets and are currently located in Porto Romano, Durrës, in conditions of environmental and physical security. During the seizure process, the containers were also subjected to a radioactivity test, where the scan did not detect the presence of GAMA or NEUTRON radioactive material.
In order to take samples for expert examination and conduct laboratory analyses, the Prosecutor's Office at the Court of First Instance of Durrës Jurisdiction has addressed all ministries and institutions within the Albanian territory. From the responses received, it emerged that no institution, laboratory or entity had the infrastructure and means necessary to carry out the process of taking samples and analyzing them.
Subsequently, in cooperation with the Italian authorities of the EU4LEA project and Italian security experts, a laboratory in Italy was identified and verified which carried out all laboratory testing, and two Albanian companies and an Albanian expert in the field were engaged, who met the general and specific criteria that must be met according to international protocols, for cases when potentially dangerous samples must be collected, transported, stored and tested.
Samples taken from the 102 seized containers and samples taken from: Kurum International Company sh.a.; Sokolaj sh.pk and Alliance Resource sh.pk, were subjected to expert examination for their chemical composition, physical characteristics, classification, compatibility between them, compatibility with the analysis sheets submitted by the entities for their export and the risk to human health and the environment.
The expert report showed that the material analyzed is dust collected from the gas filtration systems of the Electric Arc Furnace (EAF), a process that is clearly included in the scope of subchapter 10 02 of the EWC. Based on the chemical composition of the material and the activation of the hazard properties HP10 and HP14, in accordance with Annex III of Directive 2008/98/EC (Waste Framework Directive) and the relevant implementing regulations, the relevant code within this subchapter should be the one marked as hazardous waste with code according to the waste catalogue 10 02 07*.
In the samples taken from the seized containers, the company Kurum International sh.a. and Alliance Resource, the presence of elements (and their compounds) that pose a risk to human health and the environment, related to the risk of toxicity for reproduction and ecotoxicity, especially to aquatic ecosystems, is found. In accordance with European and national legislation, the material must undergo controlled recovery, stabilization and appropriate treatment before final disposal.
From the analysis of the contracts concluded between the entities, the financial documentation administered by the entities and tax directorates, the environmental registers and the documentation administered by the KTA, EMS, Port Authority and Durres Customs Branch, as well as the results of the expertise, it is reasonably proven that the hazardous waste producer Kurum International sh.a. in full knowledge of national legal prohibitions (Law No. 10 463, dated 22.9.2011 "On integrated waste management" as amended and by-laws) and international (Law No. 8216, dated 13.5.1997 "On the accession of the Republic of Albania to the Basel Convention on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal", Customs Code, etc.), has carried out a series of actions in cooperation with other entities, to cover the true nature of the waste and to export it outside Albania and to trade it within the Albanian territory.
After administering the expert report proving that the waste is dangerous and toxic, the Durrës Prosecutor's Office created the full conviction that we are facing not simply a criminal fact, but a chain of illegal actions that bring serious consequences in several areas such as the environment, health, customs activity, the activity of authorities for environmental safety and quality, as well as honest and competitive economic activity.
In order to guarantee the efficiency of the proceedings and the authenticity of the evidence, to avoid the removal of the persons under investigation, as well as to avoid further commission of these criminal offenses, as well as to uncover all the violations that were committed in enabling the export or concealment of the real amount of waste created by the company Kurum International sh.a., the Durrës Prosecutor's Office requested from the court the imposition of coercive personal security measures for the following citizens:
ED, Turkish citizen, administrator of the company Kurum International sh.a. with the security measure "Arrest with imprisonment", suspected of the criminal offenses "Smuggling of prohibited or restricted goods", "Transportation of waste", "Waste management", "Forgery of documents" in two cases, "Laundering of proceeds of criminal activity";
YSK, Turkish citizen, representative with prosecutors of the administrator of the company Kurum International sh.a., with the security measure "Arrest with imprisonment", suspected of the criminal offenses "Waste management", "Cleaning of the products of criminal activity";
MI, acting as transport director of the company Kurum International sh.a., with the security measure "Arrest with imprisonment", suspected of the criminal offense "Transportation of waste";
RB, acting environmental director of the company Kurum International sh.a., with the security measure "Arrest with imprisonment", suspected of the criminal offenses "Smuggling of prohibited or restricted goods" and "Waste management"; Executed
HS, Turkish citizen, steel production director of the company Kurum International sh.a. with the security measure "Arrest with imprisonment", suspected of the criminal offense "Waste management";
A.Sh., representative with prosecutors of the administrator of the company Kurum International sh.a and finance director with the security measure "Arrest with imprisonment", suspected of the criminal offenses "Smuggling of prohibited or restricted goods", "Waste management", falsification of documents" and "Laundering of the products of criminal activity";
Sh.H., sales director of Kurum International sh.a., with the security measure "Arrest in prison", suspected of the criminal offense "Smuggling of prohibited or restricted goods" and "Forgery of documents";. Executed
MZ, accountant of the company Kurum International sh.a., under the security measure "House arrest", suspected of the criminal offenses "Forgery of documents" and "Laundering of proceeds of criminal activity"; Executed
Gj.S., administrator of the company Sokolaj sh.pk, with the security measure "Arrest with imprisonment", suspected of the criminal offenses "Smuggling of prohibited or restricted goods", "Forgery of documents" and "Laundering of the proceeds of criminal activity";
DS, representative of the company GS Minerals doo, with the security measure "Arrest in prison", suspected of the criminal offenses "Smuggling of prohibited or restricted goods", "Forgery of documents" and "Laundering of proceeds of criminal offense or criminal activity";
OP, administrator of the company Sokolaj sh.pk, with the security measure "Arrest with imprisonment", suspected of the criminal offenses "Smuggling of prohibited or restricted goods" and "Laundering of the proceeds of a criminal offense or criminal activity";
MK, administrator of the company Alliance Resource sh.pk with the security measure "Arrest with imprisonment", suspected of the criminal offenses "Waste management" and "Cleaning up the products of a criminal offense or criminal activity";
NB, administrator of the company Bajrami N sh.pk with a security measure of "Arrest with imprisonment", suspected of the criminal offense of "Waste management"; Executed
AP, administrator of the company Bajrami N sh.pk with the security measure "Arrest with imprisonment", suspected of the criminal offense "Waste management"; Executed
PQ, natural person, with the security measure "Arrest with imprisonment", suspected of the criminal offense
“Waste management”';
MH, acting as a customs agent, with the security measure "Arrest with imprisonment", suspected of the criminal offense "Smuggling by employees related to customs activity"; Executed
JK, duty shift manager at the Durrës Customs Branch, with the security measure "Arrest with imprisonment", suspected of the criminal offense "Smuggling by employees related to customs activity"; Executed
IL, customs officer at the Durrës Customs Branch, with the security measure "Arrest with imprisonment", suspected of the criminal offense "Smuggling by employees related to customs activity"; Executed
EV, customs officer at the Durrës Customs Branch, with the security measure "Arrest with imprisonment", suspected of the criminal offense "Smuggling by employees related to customs activity"; Executed
HL, duty shift manager at the Durrës Customs Branch, with the security measure "Arrest with imprisonment", suspected of the criminal offense "Smuggling by employees related to customs activity"; Executed
Sh.J., customs officer at the Durrës Customs Branch, with the security measure "Arrest with imprisonment", suspected of the criminal offense "Smuggling by employees related to customs activity"; Executed
F.Ç. representative of the EMS APO company, with the security measure "Arrest with imprisonment", suspected of the criminal offense "Waste management"; Executed
IH, German citizen, administrator of the EMS APO company, with the security measure "Arrest with imprisonment", suspected of the criminal offense "Waste management";
GS, advisor at the EMS APO company, with the security measure "Arrest with imprisonment", suspected of the criminal offense "Waste management"; Executed
AD, acting general director of the KTA, under the security measure "House arrest", suspected of the criminal offense "Abuse of office" in three cases; Executed
MP, acting as Director of the Directorate of Environmental Permits and EIAs at the KTA, with the security measure "House arrest", suspected of the criminal offense "Abuse of office", in three cases; Executed
DS, acting Director of the Inspection and Control Directorate at the KTA, with the security measure "Arrest in prison", suspected of the criminal offense "Abuse of office", in three cases provided for by Article 248 of the Criminal Code.
KS, responsible for the Environmental Permit Monitoring and EIA Sector at the KTA, under the security measure "House arrest", suspected of the criminal offense "Abuse of office", provided for by Article 248 of the Criminal Code. Executed
BT, responsible for the Environmental Permits Sector at the KTA, under the security measure "House arrest", suspected of the criminal offense "Abuse of office"; Executed
EM,, responsible for the Environmental Permits and EIA Monitoring Sector, with the security measure "House arrest", suspected of the criminal offense "Abuse of office"; Executed
KA, responsible for the Environmental Inspection Sector at the KTA, with the security measure "Arrest in prison", suspected of the criminal offense "Abuse of office"; Executed
IM, with the duty of environmental specialist at the Durrës Port Authority, with the security measure "House arrest", suspected of the criminal offense "Abuse of office"; Executed
Xh.G., with the position of environmental specialist at the Durrës Port Authority, with the security measure "Arrest in prison", suspected of the criminal offense "Abuse of office";
To date, security measures have been executed for 20 citizens and work continues to arrest 13 other citizens.
The Prosecutor's Office at the Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction of Durrës remains committed to fully clarifying the circumstances of the case, identifying and examining the criminal liability of every private and state entity involved in this activity, guaranteeing that every action is being carried out in accordance with the law, in protection of the public interest, the health of citizens and the environment.
