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Britain sanctions network in Kosovo/accuses it of forging documents for people smugglers

2025-10-22 17:34:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Britain sanctions network in Kosovo/accuses it of forging documents for people

Britain has sanctioned what it called criminal gangs from the Western Balkans, including one in Kosovo, which are suspected of forging documents that were then used to traffic people.

According to the announcement by the British Government, with the help of the Kosovar authorities, the "Krasniqi Network" has been sanctioned, which is described as a criminal gang based in Kosovo that had run a sophisticated laboratory for the production of false documents.

The United Kingdom said this organized criminal gang is responsible for producing false documents and supplying them to criminal gangs.

"The group has created fake passports, ID cards and driver's licenses from more than 50 countries, including the United Kingdom," the statement said.

According to the United Kingdom, the sanctioned individuals are: "Burim Krasniqi, described as the leader of the Krasniqi network; Arif Krasniqi, said to be an intermediary for the group who secured clients for their services; Flamur Krasniqi, a member of the group who was found in possession of forged documents; Valon Krasniqi, involved in the production of forged documents; Sami Duriqi, involved in the production of false documents; Granit Avdyli, involved in the production of documents and advertising the group's services; Nexhmie Selmani, who provided the facility the group used to forge documents and was also involved in providing forgery equipment; Endrit Emerllahu, involved in the production of forged documents; and Shembim Emerllahu, a member of the group who was found in possession of forged documents."

"There is a criminal route through the Western Balkans that brings illegal migrants to the United Kingdom and we are determined to close it by working with European partners ," said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, in a statement ahead of the Berlin Process summit that has brought together Western Balkan leaders.

The summit is expected to focus on efforts to reduce illegal migration, as well as regional security and other common threats.

The United Kingdom has also sanctioned Nusret Seferovic, whom it described as the leader of a Croatian gang that had supplied gangs in the Balkans with forged Croatian passports.

Two other people and a trading company were sanctioned for their participation in a network that transferred money and bought parts for small boats used by gangs to facilitate illegal migration, the British Government said in a statement.

Britain said the sanctions were the latest step in combating criminal networks that have increased illegal migration to the country. These actions, the British government said, have helped reduce the number of migrants from the Western Balkans from 140,000 in 2022 to 21,000 last year.

In January, Kosovo discovered a laboratory for producing fake documents.

In January of this year, Kosovo Police announced that they had discovered that a house in Pristina had served as a sophisticated laboratory for the production of forged documents, including passports, ID cards and driver's licenses.

The discovery of this house was made after on January 24, the Police stopped a vehicle where they found blank documents from various countries around the world.

"The driver with the initials FK has been arrested and has been sentenced to 30 days in detention," the Kosovo Police said in a statement.

Authorities said they had seized laser machines, printers, over 20,000 microchips and thousands of documents from 51 different countries around the world in the house where the laboratory was located.

Meanwhile, on October 12, by order of the Special Prosecution of Kosovo, VE was detained on suspicion of criminal offenses: forgery of documents and participation in or organization of a criminal group.

According to the Prosecution, he was arrested at the border crossing in Brnjak – which connects Kosovo with Serbia – as part of investigations related to the case in January of this year, when authorities discovered a laboratory specialized in document forgery.

"There is a well-founded suspicion that, from an unspecified period of time until January 24, 2025, VE, in collaboration with other suspects, acting as an organized group, produced and distributed forged documents from around 50 countries around the world ," the October 12 announcement said. /REL