Italy extradites human smuggler who led deadly speedboat trip that killed 21

Viron Robaj, 41, was sentenced by an Albanian court to 25 years imprisonment for his participation in the smuggling tragedy

TIRANA, March 9 - Italy has extradited an Albanian man convicted in Albania of charges relating to captaining a human smuggling boat between Albania and Italy that took the lives of 21 people in 2004.

Viron Robaj was sentenced by an Albanian court to 25 years imprisonment. He was extradited from Italy to Albania on Monday to serve his sentence.

Robaj, 41, was declared at large and an international arrest warrant was issued for him. He was then arrested in Italy.

In 2005, the Vlora court sentenced Robaj to 25 years jail for assisting in an illegal border crossing that resulted in the deaths.

In January 2004, a speedboat with 36 people aboard left Vlora near the Karaburun peninsula toward Italy.

But it turned over due to the rough seas and 21 people died.

The people on-board had paid 1,500 euros each to be smuggled into the European Union.

That form of illegal trafficking was still present in Albania at the time, with many people trying to go to nearby Italy, hoping for a better life.

The tragedy led to Albania banning all speed boats from its waters for a decade, leading to a massive reduction in human smuggling.

Albanians no longer require visas to visit much of the European Union.