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The administrative unit of Nikla in the municipality of Kruja has a complex social composition and inherited history with crime, but the experts of order and public security emphasize that it is political instrumentalization and alliances with politicians that have empowered the criminal exponents of this area. This material was prepared by journalist Klodiana Lala and is a collaboration between the BIRN Network and the Voice of America.
The streets are empty and the houses are surrounded by high walls. Dozens of security cameras are installed on the walls and concrete electricity poles, keeping a watchful eye on the slightest movement.
Only 17 kilometers from Tirana, the area of Nikla in the municipality of Kruja is otherwise known as the cradle of crime. Different clans in this area, sometimes in alliance and sometimes in rivalry with each other, extended their influence beyond Nikla, offering organized crime structures costly services such as paid murders.
Albanian law-enforcement authorities believe that these services to the underworld brought conflicts, from which originate a long series of serious criminal events - including kidnappings, armed robberies, mafia-style assassinations and murders, which have transformed the area into a bloody arena.
Among them, the murder in March 2024 of the former prison police officer, Gentjan Bejtja, who had survived three previous assassinations with firearms and explosives, stands out. In one of these assassinations in July 2023, his 29-year-old brother-in-law was killed and his two minor children were injured.
"Gentian until it happened that his children were injured, and until he was killed and the brother-in-law at the door of the house came here, I was at the hospital with the whole wife. Since that day, he has been at home here. My wife and I were in the garden, when we got here we heard the crackling. There we found him dead as he had entered the greenhouse to water," says Gani Bejtja, the victim's father.
Nikla's history as a hotbed of criminality goes back more than two decades. The former General Director of the State Police, Ahmet Prençi, remembers that this area was known as problematic from the beginning of his career in the police.
"When I started my career in 1992, that I started in Krujë, I remember that it was a very problematic area, a very hot area, they were the first exponents of the gangsters of that time," recalls Prençi.
"Initially, it started with fines, murders, and robberies, while for 30 years they have necessarily been empowered and perfected their criminal activity," he adds.
Pas vitit 1997 dhe periudhës së anarkisë që pasoi kolapsin e firmave rentiere, vrasjes së deputetit Azem Hajdari në vitin 1998 dhe Luftës në Kosovë në vitin 1999, eksponentë të krimit nga zona e Niklës u përfshinë edhe në akte sabotazhi me frymëzim politik.
Sipas Spartak Poçit, ish-ministër i Rendit Publik në vitet 1999-2000, kjo ndodhi në kushtet e një përplasjeje të vazhdueshme mes dy forcave kryesore politike që drejtonin vendin në atë kohë, Partisë Socialiste dhe asaj Demokratike.
“Kishte akte sabotazhi të tilla si rrëmbime personash, bllokime rrugësh ku do kalonin politikanë për të lëvizur për në Shqipëri dhe hedhjen në erë të shtyllave elektrike, të cilat ishin akte të mirëfillta sabotazhi me karakter politik, por dhe me tendencë për të destabilizuar në mënyrë masive rendin dhe besueshmërinë e popullsisë karshi qeverisjes,” tregon Poçi.
Megjithë ngarkesën kriminale me të cilën përballet zona e Niklës, drejtuesit aktualë të Policisë së Shtetit theksojnë që shumica e qytetarë të kësaj zone e zbatojnë ligjin dhe e respektojnë komunitetin e tyre.
“Nikla është një njësi administrative, si të gjitha njësitë e tjera administrative që ka Shqipëria. Në Nikël jetojnë qytetarë të cilët përgjithësisht e zbatojnë ligjin, zbatojnë rregullat e bashkëjetesës. Është fakt që zona e Niklës, tradicionalisht ka patur më të përhapur vetëgjyqsinë dhe në raport me njësitë administrative të tjera të vendit, krimet kundër personit në mënyrë të veçantë, kanë pasur një tendencë dhe zhvillim më të madh,” thotë Tonin Vocaj, drejtor i Policisë Kriminale.
Lidhjet politike besohet se ndikuan në fuqizimin e grupeve kriminale të zonës. Një hetim i Prokurorisë së Posaçme i bazuar në zbërthimin e aplikacionit të koduar ‘Sky ECC’, ka hedhur dritë rishtazi mbi lidhjet politike dhe fuqinë ekonomike të organizatave kriminale që operojnë në zonën e Fushë-Krujës dhe Lezhës, ku mes tyre figurojnë dhe ish-deputetë të Partisë Socialiste dhe familjarë të tyre.
“Fillimisht këta jepnin e merrnin me këta të opozitës, por ajo nuk i afroi në pozicione politike. I përdorte për vota, i përdorte për akte të sabotazhit, i përdorte për bllokim të rrugëve edhe për mitingje që bëheshin këtu në Tiranë. Më vonë, këta u lidhën me partinë që ishte në pushtet dhe natyrisht, dora-dorës filluan të kërkonin dhe poste dhe siç kam dëgjuar më vonë, disa prej tyre kanë shkuar në vendet që lamë neve në parlament,” thekson ish-ministri i Rendit, Spartak Poçi.
Lidhjet e politikës me krimin e organizuar nuk janë një problem i izoluar dhe prezent vetëm në zonën e Niklës. Ato shtrihen thellë në territorin e vendit dhe përbëjnë një sfidë të drejtpërdrejtë ndaj sundimit të ligjit dhe shtetit të së drejtës në Shqipëri.
"The main objective of organized crime today is for them to be economically powerful and they achieve this through their criminal activity, but also through their alliances that they create, especially with politics, since it gives them access to further strengthen their activity them," says the former head of the State Police, Ahmet Prençi.
According to Prenç, law enforcement institutions in the country must act quickly to sever the ties between politics and organized crime groups in the country. VOA
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