“An Albanian pimp who smuggled himself into the UK on a forged passport and forced his girlfriend to work in a brothel is still roaming the streets of the UK.” The British tabloid “The Sun” has dedicated a long article to Albanian Gëzim Troka, 50, who was found guilty in absentia by a court in Albania in 2008 of using violence and threats to force his partner to work as a prostitute in Greece and Italy during the 1990s and early 2000s.
The Sun writes that despite an international arrest warrant, Troka managed to enter the UK on a dubious Bulgarian passport. He was not even on the authorities' radar until he was arrested and convicted of common assault 10 years later.
It was only after he ended up in immigration detention that officials realised he was a wanted fugitive and approved Albania’s extradition request. Even after his first appeal failed, Troka was allowed to take the case all the way to the High Court. Judges eventually rejected his application to stay in 2021, but Troka is still in the UK almost 4 years later, a source revealed to the Daily Mail.
A judge at Westminster Magistrates' Court granted Troka bail on August 2, 2024. This means he is free to go wherever he wants without restrictions, despite his criminal past.
“The Albanian criminal had spent more than 3 years in custody between August 2018 and his failed appeal to the High Court before being released. Now, sources have told the Mail that Troka is still in the UK – and with almost two decades having passed since his conviction, officials in Albania are now considering dropping the extradition request altogether. This could mean he stays in Britain forever,” writes The Sun.
Court documents reveal that Troka began a relationship with a woman in 1994 while living in Fier, Albania. They traveled illegally to Athens, where he used physical and psychological abuse to force her into prostitution – pocketing her earnings. They later moved to Rome, then Padua, where he continued the exploitation.
He was finally arrested in Italy in May 1995 and sentenced to 16 months in prison for “exploitation and promotion of prostitution” – but he only served part of the time. An expert on Albanian organised crime told the Mail that it was not uncommon for criminals from the country to become involved in prostitution.
He explained to the newspaper: “In the late 1990s, Albanians in Italy learned how the Italian mafia controlled street prostitution. They began trafficking Albanian girls to Italy and Greece under false pretenses – then forcing them to work as sex workers, as in the case of Troka. By the 2000s, they had expanded into the UK – covering up parts of Soho and opening brothels using victims from Albania and Eastern Europe.”
By 2007, Troka was a wanted man in Albania. An international arrest warrant was issued the following year, shortly before he was caught trying to sneak into the United Kingdom on a false passport.
"Soft borders"
Despite public outrage, the Home Office has refused to confirm whether Troka will ever be extradited. Robert Bates, of the Centre for Migration Control, strongly criticised the situation, saying: “This case shows how soft Britain’s borders have become. This man is clearly not conducive to the public good and his continued presence in our country is an affront.”
It comes after a police-murdering terrorist and gang boss lodged another court appeal to stay in the UK. Maksim Çela, 59, initially sought asylum, shouting that rival mobsters would kill him if he returned to Albania. He later changed his story and launched a human rights court battle, claiming that his deportation would put him at risk of degrading treatment or torture.
Maksim Çela even secured a ruling from a UK immigration judge that allowed him to remain anonymous until The Sun exposed him after a 23-month legal battle. The scheming thief lost his latest appeal against deportation in May after a hearing was told he was a liar.
But The Sun has learned that he is continuing to fight – this time at the Court of Appeal – in a move that could cost taxpayers. ©Taken from The Sun
