'The wrong crime' that brought about the savage revenge/ Vis Martinaj's "Shadow" after the rape and robbery of the boss's parents from Tepelena

2026-02-18 22:44:11Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
'The wrong crime' that brought about the savage revenge/ Vis
Ervis Martinaj

On the evening of March 30, 2015, Tepelena was shaken by an attack that would leave deep scars on Elton Çiça's family. Four masked men broke into the home of his parents, Naim and Antoneta Çiça. They tied up and shot the two elderly men, demanding in threatening tones the money they were supposed to have in the house.

"...I was in my apartment, when after preparing food for my son, who had not yet come home, I went up to the second floor to prepare the son's bed. I went downstairs and left the door open, when at that moment I heard footsteps going up to the second floor and I opened the door, thinking it was my son, but at that moment I saw three people, who were masked and with gloves in their hands..."

Despite the fact that the perpetrators entered the apartment to rob large sums of money, in his testimony before the authorities, Naim Çiça said that they only stole 5 thousand euros.

At the end of his statement, Naimi explains that an amount of 5,000 thousand euros and two expensive watches that belonged to his son were stolen from the house.

The incident occurred when Elton Çiça was still alive. In fact, that episode was not related to the conflict with Jani Aliaj, but the crime led to other criminal events that are still unsolved by the authorities.

"This does not exclude the fact that these conflicts that have been in the Tepelena area have been transferred to other criminal groups, which have had connections, and have used the information they had with each other to carry out these conflicts, as was the case with the robbery of Elton Çiço's apartment," said Indrit Sefa, a lawyer.

In the case of the robbery of Çiçë's parents, a well-known name from the criminal world, Ervis Martinaj, also appears. The latter turns out to be one of the owners of the car that the perpetrators of the robbery used to rob Elton Çiçë's parents' apartment.

The investigation revealed that the robbers had planned every detail, using different cars and secret ownership accounts. The vehicle used, an AUDI S3 with Italian license plates CD 368 PT, had passed through a chain of ownership from Sokol Jella to Ervis Martinaj and then to Robert Rama. These underworld figures had information that at that time, the boss from Tepelena was considered one of the characters with the largest amounts of dirty cash.

In his statements during the investigation, on 30.04.2015, citizen Ervis Martinaj explained that he had an unclosed account with citizen Bledar Llozhi, for an amount of 10,000 (ten thousand) euros in relation to some supplies of inert materials that Ervis Martinaj had purchased from Bledar for the concrete plant. In the absence of Bledar being able to pay this amount, they agreed to take the AUDI A3 S3 car, which he sold to citizen Robert Rama. According to his statement, citizen Robert Rama did aluminum work and they agreed to do work on one of his facilities for the value of the car of 10,000 euros.

"It was said in the police channels at the time, but also in some investigative actions carried out by the police, that the incident was related to a robbery, by some people who had changed the doors and windows in Elton Çiço's house, and they had the keys to the doors, because they had information that there was a considerable amount of money in his parents' house," said journalist Xhevahir Zhabina.

"In relation to this event, Jani Aliaj had no connection, it is categorically excluded that this is the reason for the consequences that have come. So the people who were involved in the apartment of Elton Çiço's parents were immediately identified by the police, there were also those who were arrested, and some of them were later killed or injured, they also had a separate story," said the lawyer, Gjergj Nikolli.

The fingerprint examination also revealed Erigers Mihas' fingerprints on a pack of cigarettes.

However, this evidence seems not to have convinced the prosecutor in the case, who, 6 months after his arrest, in July 2019, requested Mihas' release from prison, a request that was accepted by the Court.

Although he was released from prison, the investigation into Mihas continued at large. The case was closed after he was executed in November 2021 in the "Astir" area of ​​Tirana.

"The truth about the robbery of Elton Çiçë's family has also been revealed. It turned out that Jani Aliaj's group had no connection to the robbery, it was other characters who were involved. However, this does not exclude the fact that it may have been the latter who provided information," said lawyer Indrit Sefa.

"The Wrong Crime", the savage revenge that produced the robbery and violence against the parents of the late drug boss

The incident in Tepelena where Elton Çiçë's parents were raped and robbed in their apartment was not just a theft; it was a provocation, a violation that would not go unanswered. Two months later, this revenge took concrete form in Durrës. Robert Rama, also known as Ledjon Hyska, one of the names rumored to have participated in the robbery, became the first target of blood that demanded accountability.

He was standing in a bar in the former Kënetës area when two people got off their motorbike, pulled out their guns and shot him dead, leaving two others injured... The police linked the murder to the Tepelena robbery, but without documenting it.

"I remember at that time that this event was followed by several other serious events that occurred immediately after this story, where there were suspicions that a murder may have occurred precisely because of this story, but also of an attempted murder with TNT, in the area of ​​the Combine," said Xhevahir Zhabina, journalist.

At the same time, Ervis Imeri, also rumored for robbery, was saved by fate from two explosive attempts, showing that revenge had several levels and different warning signs.

On May 4, 2015, he escaped an explosion at the Combine; on December 8, 2015, another explosion hit the car he was in with his brother Elton, who was left crippled.

A clear warning: the action against the Çiça family would not go unpunished...This story is a complicated web of revenge, assassinations, and executions.

"This conflict has been very fierce and has also affected the leaders of these criminal groups, but the fact that this conflict has continued shows that none of these criminal groups, or any of these criminal structures, have ever been extinguished, but have always been active, and have continued even though their leaders are no longer alive," said Indrit Sefa, a lawyer.

The conflicts between the groups of Tepelena show a city where silence and fear rule over the law, where everyone involved in these events leaves behind an indelible mark of violence. Will this saga, which already sees as victims the two main protagonists of the groups, the strongmen Elton Çiça and Jani Alia, come to an end?!

 


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