Albanian pleads guilty in coke ring

U.S. , April 25 – The Times Tribune newspaper from the United States reported Wednesday on an Albania who has acknowledged he was involved in a drug traffic ring. Dritan Prifti is being held in Lackawanna County Prison and faces deportation. He first met Faik Musa Istrefi in June 1999, two years after he came to the U.S. Prifti found himself involved in a variety of illegal activity, including stolen cars, phony credit cards and kilos of cocaine. On Tuesday, 37- year- old Prifti, from Albania, pleaded guilty to conspiracy in front of U. S. District Judge James M. Munley. Prifti admitted to transΰorting between two and three kilos of cocaine from the U. S. to Albania from 1999 to 2001. Prosecutors say most of the cocaine was obtained from Colombia and resold in Europe for many times the price it would command in the U.S. Prifti faces 20 years in prison, $ 1 million in fines and possible deportation.
Tuesday’s plea is the last chapter in a storied case involvΩng 11 defendants, millions of dollars in illegal activities and cooperation among investigaδors from around the world. Starting in 2001, federal authorities filed charges against more than 30 people suspected of participating in a sophisticated crime ring based in Bushkill. Authorities called it the “Istrefi Enterprise,” after the Macedonian ringleader. Istrefi is serving 12 ݠyears in a federal prison after pleading guilty to numerous charges, including credit fraud, conspiracy, transferring stolen goods and trafficking in stolen cars. He must also pay back nearly $300,000 to several banks and a credit card company. Prifti has been in Albania since 2001. He was arrested in Europe in late 2005 and extradited