TIRANA, Feb. 15 – Police special forces have been able to arrest four suspected members of the armed gang responsible for stealing $3.2 million in cash from a money transport headed to Tirana’s international airport last week.
Tirana Police Chief Ervin Hodaj said in a press conference that four men had been arrested and two more were wanted.
Two of those arrested were former soldiers in one of Albania’s elite armed forces units. One is a former employee of a security company in charge of moving money for the banks.
“We’ve seized as evidence, a substantial monetary amount in several currencies: British pounds, U.S., Canadian and Australian dollars, euros and Albanian Lek, which were declared as being in the cash transport by the affected banks,” Hodaj said.
Police named the arrested suspects as Fation Xhyliu, 33, born in Lushnja and a resident of Tirana, and a former employee of Rogat Security, the company moving the currency in a previous robbery in 2015; Ditjon Memlika, 31, born in Tepelena and a resident of Tirana, a former professional soldier; Neim Avdulaj, 28, born in Vlora and a resident of Tirana, a former army commando; Ernest Kupa, a Kruja resident and owner of a private business.
The arrests followed a large police operation in the towns of Vora and Preza, located near the highway linking Tirana and Durres.
Authorities believe the suspects are also involved in at least one previous similar robbery in 2015.
During the night following the arrests, police also found large amounts of currency the suspects had allegedly buried in southern Albania.
