The “In the Crosshairs” program, hosted by journalist Klodiana Lala, revisited the chronology of Ergys Agasi’s arrest in the Plepa area of Durrës, after eight months on the run. According to the documentary, investigators tracked him by drone during his movements, while former State Police official Uljan Shpataraku was at the wheel of the vehicle in which he was traveling.
Referring to the investigation file, the program’s report says that Agasi was kept under surveillance for several hours. Authorities followed his route from Durrës toward Elbasan and then back to the coastal city.
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The documentary also presents statements from the vehicle’s owner, as well as Shpataraku’s version of the circumstances in which he ended up in the same car as Agasi.
Excerpt from the documentary:
For eight months, he was among the most wanted people in Albania.
His flight ended on a late-August evening. He was a person who, according to the accusations, had connected the world of crime with that of power and had influenced both sides.
August 27, 2026
A black Audi leaves Elbasan, around 40 kilometers from Tirana. There are two men inside the vehicle: one at the wheel and the other in the front passenger seat.
The journey appears ordinary and, despite the heavy traffic of the summer season, nothing suggests that the two men might encounter any problems.
But behind the car, hidden among the dense traffic, several other vehicles are also moving. They are following the Audi, which is traveling toward Durrës, although they do not appear to be ordinary cars on the road.
5:00 p.m.
After approximately 40 minutes of travel from Elbasan, when Durrës appears close, the vehicle is forced to stop. A summer day comes to an end, but so does the flight of a highly wanted person.
Information from the National Bureau of Investigation proves accurate: in the front seat of the Audi is Ergys Agasi, who has been declared wanted and is accused of several serious criminal offenses.
These are the images of his arrest in the Plepa area of Durrës. Agasi is known as the “gray eminence” and, according to accusations raised by former Deputy Prime Minister Arben Ahmetaj, he connected the threads of organized crime with Edi Rama.
He has been described as a person with significant influence over tenders at AKSHI, the National Authority for Information Society. Claims about his influence also extended to the appointment of senior State Police leaders and administration officials, as well as the dismissal and appointment of interior ministers.
According to the report, this power enabled him to amass millions of euros in assets within a few years and exercise influence across a broad area between Tirana, Elbasan and Durrës.
At the moment of the arrest, Uljan Shpataraku was at the wheel of the vehicle in which Agasi was traveling. Until shortly beforehand, he had been a police commander and the closest associate of former General Director of Police Ilir Proda.
Shpataraku left the State Police after Proda’s departure from the institution’s leadership. When Proda was general director, Shpataraku worked as an adviser to the director of the Department of Technology and Information. On the day of the arrest, he was driving the vehicle in which Agasi was traveling.
Shortly before being stopped with Agasi, Shpataraku himself had been wanted by police. At the beginning of August, he was suspected of threatening the staff of a hotel in Dhërmi.
The arrest of both men once again heightened suspicions of links between the police and crime. Shpataraku and Agasi are believed to have known each other for a long time, dating back to when Shpataraku was a senior official in the Elbasan Police.
After being detained, Agasi was initially taken to the Tirana Police Directorate, where National Bureau of Investigation agents questioned him.
Durrës Police
The Durrës Local Police Directorate and the operational structures of the General Directorate of the State Police, in cooperation with the Special Prosecution Office Against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK), carried out the operation codenamed “The Wanted.”
During the operation, Ergys Agasi, who had been declared wanted by SPAK, was captured in Durrës. Uljan Shpataraku was traveling in the same car; he was also captured and arrested.
How was Agasi located? Sources say that after being declared wanted, he had moved between Tirana, Durrës and Elbasan, where he had connections with crime bosses. It is reported that his links with the police enabled him to remain free without concern.
Nevertheless, during the two weeks before his arrest, authorities had placed him under surveillance. Agasi had been seen several times in Elbasan and Durrës, while the intervention required information that was as accurate as possible.
Shpataraku claimed that he had rented a car—the vehicle in which he was later arrested together with Agasi. He traveled in it from Durrës to Elbasan, where it was confirmed that Agasi was in the same vehicle.
Police were already close to them, but the aim was to prevent Agasi from fleeing or reacting. For this reason, he was allowed to leave Elbasan for Durrës.
At the entrance to the coastal city, in the Plepa area, police staged an accident scene using civilian vehicles. At that point, the vehicle was stopped for inspection, and Agasi and Shpataraku were handcuffed.
According to the investigation file obtained by “In the Crosshairs,” the movements of both men were recorded by drone during the final hours before their arrest. The device followed them from Durrës to Elbasan and during their return to the coastal city, where they were arrested in the afternoon.
Investigations show that on the morning of the day of his arrest, Agasi left the compound belonging to Ervis Doçi. The latter is currently wanted internationally for cocaine trafficking and criminal organization and is also known for his strong ties to Agasi.
Investigative actions
“During the operational activities, the area was monitored by an unmanned aerial vehicle (drone), with the aim of identifying and locating the wanted individual.
At 11:39 a.m., an individual believed to be Ergys Agasi was observed leaving the premises on the second floor of the villa complex. He was wearing a white shirt and black three-quarter-length trousers. He left the complex, passed through the first-floor lobby and then entered the interior premises.
Surveillance showed that Agasi remained inside the complex until 12:00 p.m. When he left, he was not driving but was a passenger in the front seat of a black Audi that had arrived there only a few minutes earlier.
Up to that point, the vehicle’s driver had not been identified.”
Investigative actions
“At 11:59 a.m., during monitoring, a black Audi A6 with a roof rack was observed entering the complex. The vehicle passed through the main gate and continued toward the underground parking area of the villas. Because of the tinted windows, it was not possible to identify the people inside.
At 12:02 p.m., the car left the complex. In the front seat, next to the driver, a person wearing a white shirt was seen. Based on the available information, he was suspected to be Ergys Agasi.”
From that moment, authorities continuously followed the vehicle in which Agasi was traveling. After leaving the complex, the Audi headed toward Elbasan and was observed at the city’s Food Market, owned by the father of Suel Çela.
According to the report, Agasi remained there for approximately five hours. It is not known what happened inside the market, but surveillance continued until his detention.
Investigative actions
“At 12:03 p.m., the black Audi A6 with roof rack and license plate AB323JK left the villa complex. The vehicle passed through Nishtulla and the Shkozet roundabout, heading toward Plepa, and then used the roads near the railway tracks to reach Plazhi Road in Durrës.
When it reached the Plepa area, it continued toward the highway in the direction of Kavajë, Rrogozhinë, Peqin and Elbasan. At 1:35 p.m., after passing the Bradashesh roundabout, it took Kadri Hoxha Street and, near the Agricultural Food Market, turned right into a side street.
Activities carried out in the field showed that Ergys Agasi remained inside the Agricultural Food Market for approximately five hours. Meanwhile, police waited for a long time at the Bradashesh roundabout until he rejoined the traffic.”
When the vehicle emerged again, police resumed following it.
Investigative actions
“At 6:16 p.m., on Kadri Hoxha Street, the Audi A6 with license plate AB323JK was observed leaving the area. The car continued without stopping from the Bradashesh roundabout, onto the highway and toward Peqin, Rrogozhinë and Kavajë.
Near Plepa, in coordination with uniformed officers from the Durrës Local Police Directorate, the vehicle that had been under surveillance was stopped. Ergys Agasi, a wanted individual, was found in the front seat, while Uljan Shpataraku was at the wheel.”
The owner of the Audi told the investigative team that Shpataraku had come to his business that same day and asked to buy the vehicle. According to him, he saw the car again only in television footage of Agasi and Shpataraku’s arrest.
Kadri G.:
“I have a business in Shijak, where I sell and rent vehicles.
The Audi with license plate AB 323 JK is mine, and I bought it in Vlora. I had put it up for sale and published the relevant notice.
On August 24, 2026, at around 3:00 p.m., a man named Uljan came and expressed interest in buying it. I recognized him by sight because I had seen him on television.
I gave him the vehicle to test. He told me he would take it to a service center for inspection and then complete the notarization and payment, for the sum of 15,000 euros.”
Kadri G. told the investigative team that he had left the Audi with Uljan and saw it again only in footage broadcast by the media during Agasi and Shpataraku’s arrest. He denied knowing either of them.
Questioned by investigators, Shpataraku gave a different account. He said he had met Agasi by chance on the road and picked him up after Agasi signaled to him.
Uljan Shpataraku:
“At around 1:00 a.m., my son had a high fever and was in Durrës, at my father-in-law’s home in the Këneta area. I took my wife and went to him.
The next day I woke up, took the car and told my father-in-law that I was going to Elbasan.
When I arrived in the city, I met two friends and had coffee with them. Then I set off to return. On the old Elbasan road, a person signaled to me and I picked him up.”
Shpataraku insisted that he did not know Agasi, although Agasi was a well-known figure in the media and his photographs were widely circulated. He said he also did not know him as someone suspected of close cooperation with former General Director of Police Ilir Proda.
Proda had been Shpataraku’s superior while Shpataraku worked at the General Directorate of Police, after Proda’s appointment to that institution.
Uljan Shpataraku:
“During the journey, while we were talking, the person in my car told me his name was Berti and that he worked with aluminum doors. I did not know that he was Ergys Agasi and had no way of recognizing him, since he was wanted. When he got into the car, he had a beard, a cap and flip-flops.”
Shpataraku also stated that he had been an assistant to the Director of the IT Department and that his task had been to assist the department, mainly in a senior management position.
He added that while serving as a commander in Elbasan County, neither he nor the officers knew all the people who had been declared wanted. Asked whether he picked up unknown people who signaled to him, he answered yes.
According to Shpataraku, he did this because he was a believer and was not afraid to help people he did not know.
He also offered an explanation for the Audi in which he was stopped with Agasi. While the owner said that Shpataraku had come to buy the car and had not returned it, Shpataraku stated that he had borrowed it from a friend whose surname he did not know.
Uljan Shpataraku:
“That day I used an Audi that I took in Durrës at around 10:00 a.m. from a friend of mine named Tomi, whose surname I do not know. I met him near Këneta.
I was leaving for Elbasan, but my car was not working properly and would overheat from time to time. I went directly to Elbasan in the Audi and did not stop along the way.
I left my car in a side street in Këneta.”
Shpataraku also denied that his presence in the area of the Agricultural Food Market in Elbasan was connected to Agasi.
Uljan Shpataraku:
“Yes, I went to Elbasan and stayed for two hours. I met two friends, had coffee and then returned. Going to the market is not a crime and does not make you a criminal; the market is a very large area. I use the old road to Elbasan because of the traffic, something all of Albania knows.”
