Ilir Kumbaro's mystery, searches resume in the United Kingdom for former SHISH agent

Since December 2011, Ilir Kumbaro, former director of SHIK, sentenced to 15 years in prison in absentia for the kidnapping of Remzi Hoxha, disappeared from British justice, on the day when the court in London was to issue a decision on his extradition to Albania.

From this moment on, no one could tell where the former senior Albanian intelligence official was hiding.

There have been unconfirmed reports that Ilir Kumbaro may have left England illegally.

The prestigious British newspaper The Telegraph dedicated an article this Sunday to Ilir Kumbaro.

For the first time, a new piece of information is revealed that suggests the hiding place of Ilir Kumbaro.

“He was last seen shopping in a Cardiff supermarket with his wife in 2016, according to an Albanian source,” this newspaper wrote.

“This is a new piece of information that has emerged for the first time in 14 years, from what could be called the “Kumbaro Mystery” of how the former employee of the former State Security and then director of the SHIK department escaped from British justice, which, even though 14 years have passed, has not archived the file on the searches against him,” says Top Channel journalist Muhamed Veliu, who has followed this case since the first day when Ilir Kumbaro was discovered and arrested in 2008 in the Fulham area.

The Telegraph’s full article:

Scotland Yard is appealing to the public to help find a former Albanian spy chief who is on the run in the United Kingdom, accused of kidnapping and torturing political opponents.

Ilir Kumbaro has been wanted by the Metropolitan Police for 14 years, after he escaped from London while on bail, ahead of an extradition hearing in December 2011.

Kumbaro, now in his 70s, is wanted in Albania for ordering the kidnapping and torture of three men in 1995, who were suspected of plotting against then-president Sali Berisha.

The Metropolitan Police have issued a new appeal for information about Kumbaro through the charity Crimestoppers.

The Telegraph learned that investigators are conducting research and following up on new leads about Kumbaro’s whereabouts.

He was last seen shopping in a supermarket in Cardiff with his wife in 2016, according to an Albanian source.

Kumbaro’s recapture would bring some solace to the family of Remzi Hoxha, an Albanian-Macedonian businessman who was kidnapped north of Tirana on October 21, 1995, and tortured in a warehouse, along with Zizo Kristopulli and Avdyl Loshaj, on the orders of Kumbaro – then head of Albania’s intelligence service (SHIK).

Hoxha, a father of five, was never seen again.

His son, Ardian Hoxha, told The Telegraph: “We are very happy that finally the British authorities have re-engaged with the case of Ilir Kumbaro, the person who kidnapped, physically tortured and killed my father.”

Kumbaro fled to the United Kingdom in 1996 and sought asylum under the false name Shaqa Shatri.

He convinced immigration officials that he was a Kosovar refugee fleeing persecution in Serbia.

The Ministry of Interior granted Kumbaro indefinite residence permit and issued him a British passport.

For 13 years, he lived a double life in a council flat in Fulham, west London, and survived on thousands of pounds in social benefits.

The Metropolitan Police began an active search for Kumbaro in June 2008, following a request from Albanian authorities.

His scam came to an end when he attracted the attention of detectives by inexplicably using his real name to claim other benefits for depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

On September 2, detectives from Scotland Yard’s extradition unit, led by Detective Sergeant Peter Rance, arrested the man identifying himself as Mr. Shatri at his flat in Fulham.

When he was handcuffed, Kumbaro reportedly told officers: “I am not Ilir Kumbaro, I am Shaqa Shatri,” and that the others in the apartment were his cousin, Naxhie Axemi, and a male friend named Ervin Kumbaro (his son).

Kumbaro was due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 1 December 2011, but he escaped while on bail ahead of an extradition hearing and is thought to be hiding out among friends in the United Kingdom outside London.

Ardian Hoxha said: “We had lost faith in the UK justice system, but it seems there are still honorable individuals who want to see justice done.”

“If the British authorities really want to find Ilir Kumbaro, they can do it very easily, as his children and family live in London, and there are many ways to track him down, locate him and bring him to justice.”

In 2012, the former Serious Crimes Court in Tirana sentenced Kumbaro in absentia to 15 years in prison for the kidnapping and torture of Hoxha.

The mystery surrounding Hoxha’s disappearance has deepened after a series of deaths of those most closely linked to the case.

Bashkim Gazidede, the former head of SHIK and the person who ordered the interrogation, died in Turkey in 2008.

Budjon Meçe, a former SHIK officer who, according to the prosecution, personally tortured Hoxha in Lezha, died in Tirana in 2018.

Xhevat Hana, the former prosecutor who investigated the kidnapping and insisted on Kumbaro’s extradition, died suddenly in an Italian hospital in 2012.

John Jones, Kumbaro’s former defense attorney, killed himself in London in 2016./TCH