The suspect was in custody in Switzerland for drug offenses when Albania demanded his extradition. He is said to have helped to prepare a double murder. (symbol image)Image: keystone
Switzerland extradites a drug trafficker who went into hiding to Albania. The man is said to have been part of a murder plot in a bloody clan feud. The feud has an explosive political component.
April 15, 2026, 9:59 p.mApril 15, 2026, 9:59 p.m
When the Albanian justice system demanded the extradition of the 37-year-old Albanian K.* from Switzerland at the end of 2024, he did not have to be arrested first: he was already serving an early sentence in the canton of Solothurn – for, among other things, money laundering, drug trafficking and violations of the weapons law.
In March 2025, the Federal Office of Justice issued an extradition arrest warrant. This emerges from a recently published ruling by the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona.
The man, who went into hiding in Switzerland and is said to have worked in the drug business for his clan, fought against extradition. He claimed that his life was in danger in Albania. He has “no trust in the Albanian state, which is responsible for the murder of his father and two of his brothers.” In addition, the extradition request is politically motivated and the allegations are not specific enough. In Albania, the man is accused of being a member of a criminal organization.
Politicians are said to have ordered murders
The case has an explosive background: According to the Albanian authorities, the man is said to have been part of a 16-member group at the beginning of 2020 that was tasked with liquidating two rival bosses – a pair of brothers. A member of the Socialist Party, the party to which Prime Minister Edi Rama also belongs, is said to be behind the murder plan. The politician believed that the two men were responsible for the murder of his brother.
He is said to have received support from the notorious mafia boss Ervis M., known as the “gambling king”. Its organization has been involved in a bloody conflict with the two brothers’ gang for years.
In 2022, the “gambling king” M. himself is said to have been caught – in any case, there has been no trace of him since that year.
The “Swiss” was supposed to deliver brothers to the knife
According to charges filed by the Albanian judiciary, K., who went into hiding in Switzerland, was tasked with locating and observing one of the brothers in a town on the Albanian coast. This information was to be passed on to two contract killers from Kosovo.
However, the attack plans failed: between 2020 and 2024, the brothers survived several assassination attempts. According to the Albanian justice system, the accused K. is said to have provided support.
According to reports, the extradited man’s brother was murdered – shot with a Kalashnikov. Apparently on behalf of his own gang boss.Image: Shutterstock
His own brother was also involved – and became a victim himself in 2020: He was found next to a rented BMW, shot with a Kalashnikov. Presumably on behalf of the “gambling king”, although he is said to have belonged to the same camp.
Brothers left for Dubai
The two targets, the pair of brothers, meanwhile left for Dubai, as did many other actors from the milieu. In 2024 they were arrested there and extradited to Albania.
Before the Federal Criminal Court, the accused denied any involvement in the 2020 assassination attempt. Among other things, he cited an alibi: During the relevant time, he had stayed in his mother’s house for 40 days without interruption – as part of the funeral service for his murdered brother, as is in keeping with Albanian-Kosovan tradition. The court did not consider this representation to be credible.
The judges rejected his complaint and imposed a court fee of 3,000 francs on him.
The man has now been extradited to Albania. Like over a dozen other defendants, he is waiting for trial there. The presumption of innocence applies.
* Editor’s name known. (aargauerzeitung.ch)