Smuggling is cracked down on/ Korça Prosecution proactively investigates, 4 people are arrested

2026-05-12 14:11:00, Aktualitet CNA

Smuggling is cracked down on/ Korça Prosecution proactively investigates,

Four people were arrested after several months of intensive proactive investigations by the Prosecutor's Office at the Korça Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction for the criminal offenses committed in collaboration: "Smuggling of other goods", "Trading and transporting contraband goods" and "Storage or storage of contraband goods", provided for by articles 174, 178 and 179 of the Criminal Code.

Following information provided by the Korça Local Directorate for Border and Migration and a period of several months of intensive investigations, through covert surveillance, monitoring of movements and the use of special investigative techniques, within the framework of criminal proceedings no. 438 of 2026, it became possible to uncover and fully document a well-organized scheme of smuggling goods from Greece to Albania.

The investigation revealed that citizens with the initials VN and AN, in collaboration with each other and other persons, had established a sustainable criminal activity to illegally import clothing into Albanian territory. They were traveling to Greece in vehicles specially adapted for this activity, from which the rear seats had been removed to increase the carrying capacity and to avoid suspicion during their movements.

According to the uncovered scheme, the goods were secured in Greece and left near the border line, while they were then illegally transported across the green border by other accomplices. In some cases, the goods were picked up by the organizers themselves in the border areas, while in other cases they were transported by vehicles to the city of Korça, where they were stored and then put on the market through the commercial entity managed by citizens AN and VN.

During the investigations, the responsible structures have kept the suspects under constant surveillance, documenting cross-border movements, the use of modified vehicles without seats, and the manner of cooperation with other persons in carrying out the smuggling. These proactive methods have made it possible to fully identify the criminal mechanism and intervene at the right moment.

As a result, citizens VN, AN, AL and SN were arrested, who were found unloading suspected contraband goods in a storage facility in the city of Korça. During the intervention, 15 bags of clothing were seized, with a total of 1632 pieces of clothing, and 73 other bags and smuggled goods with a total weight of 1357 kg were found in the warehouse premises. Vehicles used for the transport of goods were also seized, including modified vehicles without seats, as well as mobile phones and various documentation related to the criminal activity.

Investigations continue to fully uncover this scheme and identify other persons involved in it./ CNA