Television piracy, administrators of 5 entities arrested, 3 others wanted

The police have arrested the administrators of 5 online entities that sold television channel packages, in violation of the law.

Ardit Stambolliu, Ferdinand Çela alias Ferdinand Bano, Arzen Velika, Adil Lila and Erlin Xhuvani were arrested. Three others are wanted.

From the verifications and investigations so far, it resulted that these citizens were selling television channel packages online, in violation of the law.

Police announcement:

A police operational plan, codenamed "Decoder", is being developed with the objective of cracking down on cases of television piracy.

Operational plan, from the Economic and Financial Crimes Investigation Section, in cooperation with the Special Operational Force Sector. This plan, the result of a several-month investigation, conducted under the direction of the Tirana Prosecutor's Office.

The checks and verifications carried out in implementation of the decision of the Tirana Court, found 7 online entities in which packages with television channels were sold, in violation of the law.

Also, the Cyber ​​Crime Investigation Section found another subject involved in this illegality.

5 administrators of these entities have been identified and arrested. Efforts are underway to capture 3 others.

45 decoders, 5 radio transceivers and 4 mobile phones were seized.

10 other entities have been verified and their activities are currently under investigation.

Within the framework of the operational plan codenamed "Decoder", citizens AS, 28 years old, AV, 40 years old, AL, 45 years old, F. Ç. alias FB, 28 years old and E. Xh., 33 years old, all residents of Tirana, were arrested. Citizens AQ, 40 years old and A. Sh., 33 years old, both residents of Tirana, were also identified and declared wanted.

Further, within the framework of this operational plan, the Cybercrime Investigation Section conducted verifications for another online entity, on suspicions of this illegality. At the end of these actions, the administrator of the entity, citizen BK, was identified and declared wanted.

From the verifications and investigations so far, it resulted that these citizens were selling packages of television channels online, in violation of the law. They were deceiving citizens that they possessed the television rights to these channels and, through decoders, were decoding and broadcasting the programming.

Efforts are underway to capture 3 wanted citizens.

Controls and verifications against this illegality, within the framework of the police operational plan codenamed "Decoder", are continuing.

The procedural materials were passed to the Tirana Prosecutor's Office for further action.