Armed with a Kalashnikov, Footage Emerges of Ylli Zalla’s Arrest (VIDEO)

Footage has emerged of the operation to arrest wanted man Ylli Zalla, who was kept under surveillance by Tirana Police before being taken into custody with the assistance of RENEA forces.

According to the footage obtained, Zalla was filmed moving through the area armed with a Kalashnikov, which he carried over his shoulder.

During the operation, police seized the firearm along with three magazines. Tirana Police investigators monitored the wanted man’s movements using a high-tech drone identified as a “Bayraktar.”

The surveillance continued until RENEA forces moved in to arrest him.

Ylli Zalla was arrested near his home in the early hours of Monday morning. At the time of his arrest, he was armed with an automatic rifle and three magazines of ammunition.

He had been hiding in a building near his home in the village of Zallë. The area where Zalla was hiding had been monitored for days with a Bayraktar drone by the Operational Forces of the Tirana Police Directorate.

Zalla was hiding in another house about 500 meters from his own, where a quantity of TNT was planted on Saturday evening.

Zalla was among those declared wanted by the authorities as part of the investigation into the November 2025 assassination at the Rinas roundabout, in which Gilmando Dani, Emiljano Shullazi’s right-hand man, and police officer Muçi Shaljani were killed. Zalla had been wanted since November 2025, after an arsenal of weapons was discovered at his home during the investigation into the assassination.

He is suspected of being an accomplice in the serious incident, which has yet to be fully solved. On February 20, 2026, police discovered another arsenal of weapons in the village of Zall, which was suspected of belonging to 49-year-old Ylli Zalla.

The weapons were discovered as part of the investigation into him, while the authorities continue to seek evidence to document his role in the criminal incidents in which he is suspected of involvement.

Ylli Zalla was also arrested around 12 years ago. At the time, he was taken into custody for manufacturing homemade bombs and was also suspected of involvement in the production and sale of narcotics. During the same period, Zalla was also investigated over suspected links to ISIS, specifically for recruiting Albanians to join jihadist fighters. In the past, he was also accused of making death threats against the owner of a cement company in Fushë-Krujë.