The British newspaper Daily Mail has dedicated a long report to the so-called "London punks", focusing on how they invest in Albania the money they earn in England through cocaine trafficking and cannabis cultivation in their home gardens.
Tom Kelly, the newspaper's investigative editor, says that "money is also invested in the construction of luxury hotels which are frequented by the 1 million British tourists who choose to visit Albania each year."
The article referred to by Top Channel also highlights SPAK's attempt to seize property originating from Albanian organized crime in Great Britain, as well as an agreement between the English side and the Seized and Confiscated Assets Administration Agency.
This agreement provides that properties confiscated in Albania or England from Albanian citizens, once sold, will be divided 50-50 between the two countries.
The Daily Mail dwells on the role of the Sequestered and Forfeited Assets Management Agency, whose offices are in a confiscated property of an individual convicted of prostitution.
Risena Xhaja, the head of the Seized and Confiscated Assets Administration Agency, showed the Daily Mail a specially prepared catalogue showing around 2,500 properties and assets worth over 28 million euros, which prosecutors have seized over the last decade, as they are suspected of being purchased with money derived from criminal activity.
Among the seized assets are a number of expensive hotels, villas, seaside tourist complexes and coastal apartments across the country.
A confiscated hotel was given to the Albanian Ministry of Defense so that officers could use it for vacations and training conferences.
Meanwhile, a property in Tirana has already been transformed into a public gallery.
Such seizures have been commented on by Risena Xhaja as important.
Data from the Albanian Agency for the Administration of Seized and Confiscated Assets show that by June 2026, 2,500 assets worth over 28 million euros had been seized.
There are 514 confiscated assets worth over 6.5 million euros./TCH