Albanian drug trafficker "Maradona" buys his freedom with 1.5 million euros

By Patrick Lefelon, HLN

The Albanian had already spent two years in detention and was therefore allowed to leave prison on Friday.

This is the first VES (Preliminary Plea) agreement of such magnitude that has been reached in a major drug trial.

The VES agreement was approved on Friday by the Bruges court.

Flamur S.'s lawyer, Johan Van Genechten, confirmed the agreement but did not provide further comment.

Flamur S. pleaded guilty to the charges attributed to him in the Bressers trial.

He has agreed to a sentence of 5 years in prison, of which 2 years are effective, and will pay 1.5 million euros to the Belgian state.

Immediately after the agreement was approved, Flamur S. was released from prison.

He had already spent two years in detention, both in Turkey and Belgium.

Albanian Flamur S., who previously lived in Deurne, has been known for many years in the world of drug trafficking in Antwerp.

In 2010, the court sentenced him to 8 years in prison and a 27,500 euro fine.

At the time, he was considered the leader of a criminal organization that used couriers to smuggle tens of kilograms of cocaine from South America to Europe through their luggage.

In the current case, according to the federal prosecutor's office, Flamur S. was an important intermediary in the organization of trafficker Flor Bressers.

Within the group he was known by the nickname "Maradona".

Flamur S. was in charge of the so-called "excavators".

He led the teams that extracted bags of cocaine hidden in containers of manganese ore.

He also handled fundraising.

From the notes seized from Bressers, it appears that Flamur S. has collected around 17 million euros in payments in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Earlier this year, Flamur S. was extradited from Turkey.

There he was hiding together with his client, Sani Al Murdaa.

For a long time they considered themselves "untouchable" because they had purchased Turkish citizenship.

However, Turkish authorities revoked this citizenship in 2024 and arrested Flamur S.

At the beginning of the year he was flown to Belgium.

Upon returning to Belgium, he authorized his lawyer Johan Van Genechten to negotiate with the federal prosecutor's office.

These negotiations led to the agreement approved on Friday.

Flamur S. has paid 1.5 million euros, an amount that represents the confiscation and fine that the federal prosecution would request during the trial.

The Bressers trial will resume in September, but already without Flamur S., as his case has been closed through this agreement.