Lots of circumstantial evidence and evidence, pre-incriminated defendants, a network of helpers in Switzerland – but one of the largest drug trials could still end without a guilty verdict.
02/02/2026, 04:4702/02/2026, 04:47
Henry Habegger / ch media
Enver H.*, 31, is not a blank slate. In November 2017, according to an Italian court decision, he was convicted in Tirana. He obtained real estate and other assets through blackmail, threats and violence.
Cocaine discovery in Romont: Almost half a ton of drugs ended up at Nestlé by mistake.Image: zvg
After an appeals court confirmed the guilty verdict, an Albanian court ordered the confiscation of assets worth around one million euros at the end of 2023. According to the court, a building, an apartment, a garage, nine parking spaces and two cars came from criminal activity.
Thick trail of cocaine across the train tracks
On April 29, 2022, Enver H. showed up in Frenkendorf BL in the middle of the night. Together with accomplices, he sneaked across the Swissterminal AG premises. The police were only able to arrest him and already suspected that cocaine was involved. The reason for this was an incident at the beginning of September 2021: walkers discovered a trace of cocaine that led from the terminal over train tracks to a meadow. Around 40 kilos of cocaine with 95 percent purity trickled out of a bag after unknown people broke into a coffee container.
Enver H. was briefly arrested, but due to a lack of evidence he was only charged with trespassing and released. He said he looked for a taxi and took a shortcut. It was only two days later that the suspicion was confirmed: around half a ton of cocaine turned up in a coffee container at Nestlé in Romont. The container from Antwerp was in the Swissterminal area from 2:29 p.m. on April 28th to 10:52 p.m. on April 29th and was then transported on to Romont.
A prison alibi
The investigators suspected that Enver H. was already involved in September 2021. But he had an alibi for this crime: he was in prison in Fier, Albania at the time and was apparently serving his sentence from 2017.
In February 2023, Enver H. was placed in custody for extradition in Italy, where he lived with a sister, and extradited to Switzerland in October. Albania also apparently submitted an extradition request. Investigations also revealed that Enver H. had already traveled from Italy via France to Antwerp on April 14, 2022. That was the day the container ship carrying cocaine from Brazil arrived in Belgium.
The accused were looking for a container with cocaine at the Swissterminal in Frenkendorf.Image: kenneth nars
Overwhelming evidence. Because of the almost 500 kilos of cocaine worth 60 million francs in Romont, Enver H. and two co-accused had to answer before the criminal court in Muttenz in mid-January. The public prosecutor is demanding 19 years in prison for H., 17 and 15 years for the other two. The accused wanted to obtain an extraordinarily large amount of narcotics together with strangers and thereby endanger the health of many people.
A kind of Omertà in the courtroom
All three accused refused to comment on the matter. Two didn’t even answer questions about themselves. Which was her right. But it seemed like a kind of Omertà, out of fear of those behind them and to protect their network.
The gang’s control center must have been Italy. The second accused, Milan M., 34, had lived in Busto Arsizio near Milan, a stronghold of the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta, for around ten years. According to Corriere della Sera, he has had Italian citizenship since 2022. Which seems strange, because: An Italian judge convicted him in 2022 for manufacturing, trafficking and possession of narcotics. An appeal was dismissed in October 2023.
Car dealer in Oftringen in Aargau
The third accused, Kristian V., 32, only spoke about himself in court. At the time of the crime, it was the only one with a permanent base in Switzerland and was considered a logistical hub. As the operator or employee of a car dealership in Oftringen, he is said to have provided vehicles for transport. According to the prosecution, he also established contact with a red light property in a village in the Bernese Jura.
The restaurant served the group as a meeting place, retreat and overnight place for several days while they tried to locate the cocaine in Frenkendorf over three nights.
According to the land register, the property belongs to people with a Balkan background from the canton of Solothurn. Kristian V. also had a room in Zofingen. He did not provide any information about other roommates. The vehicles to which he had access were in Oftringen at a car dealer with a Balkan background.
Retreat in Northern Italy
According to the indictment, Enver H. and Milan M. traveled from Italy, met with V. and other accomplices and planned the action. A salary of 700,000 euros was promised. Several, mostly unidentified, accomplices appeared in Switzerland in recent days.
After the second attempt also failed – the cocaine was already on its way to Romont – everyone returned to Italy. M. and V. returned shortly afterwards to make one last attempt. At least two other unknown persons were involved and later left for Germany near Schaffhausen.
Ominous meetings in Bern
When failure became apparent, Milan M. traveled to Bern over two days to meet unknown people. At the same time, he continued to meet with V. in the Bernese Jura. On May 4th they both returned to Italy, to Busto Arsizio.
Much of the incriminating information comes from Italy. Authorities there used bugs and listened to phone calls. The information about the 700,000 euros also comes from surveillance. This is exactly where the defense attorneys come in: It is unclear whether this evidence was collected lawfully. Despite the request, Italy did not provide any relevant evidence.
Clear case of guilty or acquittal?
Basel criminal defense attorney Alain Joset, who represents the most heavily charged defendant, Enver H., argues: The evidence provided by Italy, such as wiretapped conversations, cannot be used because it may have been collected illegally. Despite requests from the public prosecutor’s office, Italy has not yet provided any evidence of its legality, citing a duty of confidentiality.
In addition, the police made several mistakes when they came into possession of the accused’s telephone number, which was central to the proceedings. She did not instruct him sufficiently, let him believe that she was only investigating trespassing, and withheld the necessary defense from him. Because a large part of the further investigative actions could only be triggered thanks to the knowledge of this telephone number, the entire further procedure was contaminated and the evidence was unusable.
Joset says: “If Switzerland is to be a constitutional state, there are a few central rules in the criminal procedure code that must be adhered to.” It’s about a formal truth, about procedural justice. This means that the question of guilt does not have to be answered at all, the prosecution fails beforehand.
“The fact that the police and public prosecutor’s office messed up or at least didn’t work properly.”
Like the other two defense attorneys, he demands that the proceedings be stopped or acquitted. The result would be high compensation for years of imprisonment.
A (too) clear case? The Baselland criminal court wants to open the verdict on February 12th. The presumption of innocence applies. (aargauerzeitung.ch)