The Special Prosecution Office against Corruption and Organized Crime completed the investigations and sent on 21.10.2025 to the Special Court of First Instance, the request for the trial of criminal proceedings no. 135 of 2023, against the defendants:
LM, accused of committing criminal offenses and charged with: "Assistance in illegal border crossing" for profit purposes committed in the form of a structured criminal group, "Forgery of identity cards, passports and visas", committed in the form of a structured criminal group, "Structured criminal group" in the form of leadership and "Commitment of criminal offenses by a criminal organization and a structured criminal group", provided for by articles 298/2 and 28/4; 189/1 and 28/4, as well as 333/a/1 and 334/1; “Aid for illegal border crossing”, committed in collaboration and more than once, provided for by Article 298/3 of the Criminal Code, “Exercise of illegal influence”, committed twice, provided for by Article 245/1, paragraph three, of the Criminal Code and “Unauthorized possession of combat ammunition”, provided for by Article 278/3 of the Criminal Code.
GC, accused of committing the criminal offenses, “Assistance for illegal border crossing” committed in collaboration and more than once, provided for by Article 298/3 of the Criminal Code and “Exercising illegal influence over persons exercising public functions”, provided for by Article 245/1, third paragraph, of the Criminal Code.
EM, accused of committing the criminal offense of "Aid for Illegal Border Crossing" committed in collaboration provided for by Article 298/3 of the Criminal Code.
TM, accused of committing the criminal offense, "Abuse of office", provided for by Article 248 of the Criminal Code.
B.Ç, accused of committing the criminal offense of "Abuse of office", provided for by Article 248 of the Criminal Code.
Criminal facts:
From the data of the preliminary investigations, it has been proven, the existence of a criminal group, composed mainly of Albanian citizens, where the leader is the defendant, LM. This group has organized the illegal crossing across the Albanian border of at least 25 people, all Albanian citizens, who have illegally entered the territory of the USA. This criminal activity, developed from mid-2022 to July 2024, was carried out by more than three people and was premeditated, well-organized and with a concrete division of roles.
This criminal activity consisted of:
Meetings have been held in Albania with people who have requested to travel abroad or with their families, explaining the travel itinerary and the payments that must be made, which range from 40,000-45,000 dollars per person. The applicants are mainly from Malësia e Madhe, Shkodra, Lezha, Tropoja, with mainly family ties to people living in the USA.
Providing forged identification documents, mainly French, which are given to travelers after they arrive in Spain and facilitate their air travel to Mexico;
Their reception and accommodation in Mexico and their transportation by land to the United States of America.
The defendant, Emanuel Melaj, was also involved in this criminal activity, as he was aware of this activity and provided his assistance in booking the tickets, sending them to the relevant addresses, and transferring the money.
The evidence collected also documented cases where the defendants, Luc Melaj and Gëzim Camaj, illegally transported Albanian citizens by not documenting their passage during entry and exit to Montenegro. Also, through the defendant's assistant, Tonin Melaj and Bashkim Çokaj, police officers, employed at the Hani i Hoti border crossing points, non-registration in the relevant systems was carried out for citizens who had problems with residence in EU countries, as well as for other citizens who are asylum seekers in; Canada, the United Kingdom, the USA, with various motivations.
The investigations for this criminal proceeding were conducted in close cooperation with the National Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Diplomatic Security Service, the Office of Criminal Investigations Abroad at the United States Embassy in Tirana, the General Directorate of the State Police, the "Common Shield" Special Unit, as well as the Shkodra Local Police Directorate.
Investigations continue for other persons involved in these illegal activities.
