
A citizen wanted for the criminal offense of "Exercising unlawful influence over persons exercising public functions" is being extradited from Italy. He is 32-year-old Edison Cukaj, also known as Edison Gjoka.
Police say his extradition was made possible following close cooperation between Interpol Tirana specialists and their counterparts at Interpol Rome.
The 32-year-old was declared an international wanted person, after in April 2025, the Special Court of First Instance for Corruption and Organized Crime in Tirana imposed the security measure "Arrest in prison" for the criminal offense of "Exercising illegal influence over persons exercising public functions".
It is learned that this citizen was discovered as part of the SPAK operation ''Ura'' after influencing the border police officer in Durrës, Naim Beluli, to enter without being checked.
Bexhet Mema was the person who had talked to the police officer to get Edison Cukaj-Gjoka through. But their plan failed after Cukaj was stopped at the Port of Bari by Italian authorities, as he did not have proper documentation, and was deported to Albania.
This episode occurred in June 2022, and it is unknown how Cukaj crossed back to the Italian state, where he was recently arrested.