The trial of the drug lord who was extradited to Belgium/ Who is the rich and ruthless Franc Çopja?

2026-01-08 12:15:00, Kronika CNA

The trial of the drug lord who was extradited to Belgium/ Who is the rich and

A highly unusual trial at the Brussels High Court begins today, with Franc Gergely (33), also known as Franc Çopja, a leader of the Albanian drug mafia, on trial along with eight others for the cold-blooded murder of Ardit Spahiu (38), a member of a rival Albanian drug gang. He was found near a bush in Molenbeek in 2020, riddled with 11 bullets. Although there is no footage of the execution, all clues point to the notorious Copja clan, which is extremely wealthy and operates with extreme violence.

VRT NEWS

Friday evening, November 27, 2020. It looks like an average autumn day. "It will remain dry and calm," reports the Royal Meteorological Institute (KMI). But that's not the case in Sint-Jans-Molenbeek.

At 5:55 p.m., a patrol from the Brussels-West area was urgently called to Condorlaan. Witnesses had reported shots fired.

When they arrive, they see the body of a man lying near a bush. It is immediately clear that he has been shot. The body, covered in blood, has 11 bullet holes.

The victim's identity was also quickly determined. His vest contained a wallet containing the identification documents of a man born in Albania in 1982. He has no permanent residence in Belgium. His name, Ardit Spahiu, is not immediately known to the police and Belgian authorities.

Eyewitness

An eyewitness can recount with relative accuracy what he saw: a white Golf GTI was parked twice on Condorlaan when a black Golf GTI pulled up next to it. Three people were inside the black car. Two of them rolled down the windows and started shooting at the passengers of the white Golf.

The driver of that car tries to turn around and escape. He fails. The passenger gets out and runs away. The two people traveling in the black Golf, both masked and dressed in black, do the same. They pursue their target, shooting, determined to do what they came for: eliminate them. A total of 17 shell casings are found.

Apparently, the perpetrators want to make sure they kill their victim. They shoot him several times in the head and neck. Then the two perpetrators turn around, get back into the black Golf, and drive away.

It didn't last long, just a few minutes. It was the work of professionals, hired killers. That much is clear.

Police have to rely on eyewitness accounts, as no cameras recorded the attack. However, police found a total of five iPhones in the car and near the victim's body.

The day after the assassination, another witness came forward. It was FM. The man was clearly shaken. He declared himself the driver of the white Golf and said he was a childhood friend of the deceased.

The shooters remain unknown. For this reason, the investigating judge issued a search notice for the perpetrators' car.

About a month later, investigators received a message from their Dutch colleagues. A burned-out Golf GTI had been found in Hoogvliet, near the Flierefluiterpad. The vehicle identification number had been expertly removed. Further investigation revealed that it was indeed the vehicle used in the attack.

Clan War

Investigators contacted the victim's family in Albania. His brother told them the family had already lost five members to assassinations in recent months. The killing of Ardit Spahiu in Brussels brings the total to six.

A rival gang, the Copja clan, is apparently intent on wiping out their entire family. The conflict dates back to a drug deal gone wrong in 2018. Fifty kilograms of cocaine belonging to the Copja clan were allegedly stolen from the Alibej clan (to whom the victim in Brussels belonged). And this theft is a revenge.

The Copja family lives in Dubai and is not only wealthy, but also has many powerful connections, the victim's family claims. They accuse Albanian police of failing to take action against the clan. Incidentally, they add, this is why their murdered brother is living in hiding in Belgium. "He wanted to escape death threats."

Who is the Copja clan?

The Copja clan is based in the region around Elbasan, a city south of the capital, Tirana. The gang's name refers to three brothers: Franc, Hajdar, and Ervin Gergely (also known as Copja). Under their leadership, the clan quickly expanded a network that reached as far as Paraguay.

The clan pits different drug manufacturers against each other, allowing them to quickly strengthen their position in the market. They are among the first in Europe to create their own system of laboratories where cocaine is processed before it is released on the market. By importing only raw materials, they can more easily bypass customs controls.

At the same time, the clan controls every link in the chain, from production in Latin America (mainly Paraguay) and transportation to Europe, to distribution, money laundering and investment of profits. This approach leads to cost efficiency and even influences the price that users pay for their cocaine; inside sources report that the Copja clan has contributed to lowering the price of cocaine.

In 2020 alone, the clan is also believed to have smuggled approximately 28 tons of cocaine into Europe. Europol describes the clan as a criminal network with a global reach and not afraid of extreme violence. Between 2019 and 2020, at least seven murders were attributed to the network, including those outside Albania.

The clan operates like a real business. In addition to drug trafficking, they are also active in arms smuggling.

Investigators allege that the vast profits from the cocaine trade were invested and laundered on a massive scale. The clan invested millions of euros in luxury real estate, including villas and apartments in Albania's tourist resorts, as well as houses, restaurants, bars, vacation rentals and construction companies.

The clan's headquarters eventually moved to Dubai, a known base for international criminals. In 2023, gang leader Franc Copja was arrested there and later extradited to Belgium.

In the summer of 2025, Albanian police, with the support of the Belgian federal prosecutor's office, among others, launched a large-scale operation against the Copja clan. Ten members of the clan were arrested and real estate and luxury cars worth millions of euros were seized.

In fact, the Copja clan considers the Alibej clan a nuisance to them and therefore must be eliminated, they say. It is also a matter of honor. "That's how it works here," testifies a family member. This information has been largely confirmed by the Albanian police.

Ultimately, it all revolves around drug trafficking. The Copja clan operates mainly in Italy and the Netherlands. The Alibej clan operates mainly in Belgium (the port of Antwerp) and Germany (the port of Hamburg).

The victim of the assassination in Belgium, Ardit Spahiu, is considered the clan's treasurer. Endrit Alibej, the head of the Alibej clan, was also killed earlier.

Sky ECC

There is no CCTV footage of the Molenbeek murder, but the telephone investigation is revealing a lot. Investigators have managed to connect Sky ECC's conversations with several key figures in the case.

This turns out to be far from simple, as there are a total of 29 PINs (a PIN can be considered a phone number) and thousands of conversations, videos and audio files. Analysis of all this material gives a picture of an organized criminal gang with extremely large financial resources.

Moreover, it also appears that the assassination was preceded by months of preparation. No expense or effort was spared. The gang uses GPS trackers, various types of weapons (including those used by snipers), silencers, safe houses, counterfeit police uniforms and contracts offering up to 1 million euros.

The assassination is orchestrated by Franc Gergely and Mikawl Q. They keep Dubai under tight control and are constantly briefed by their enforcers in Brussels. They are told, for example, that the city has too many cameras and is too crowded to drive a car. A kidnapping is being considered.

Ultimately, the perpetrators attempt to liquidate or kidnap Ardit Spahiu 5 times, but these attempts fail or are canceled prematurely.

Moreover, the way they talk about their victim shows their courage. For example, one of the customers asks how they want the victim cooked.

300,000 euros

In May 2021, about six months after the assassination, another key witness came forward: ER. He was already being targeted by investigators, but not yet under his own identity. He uses the nicknames "Hello 3" and "Pit Bull" on Sky ECC. ER is the victim's cousin.

He is hired by the Copja clan to get close to him. The man must find Spahiu's location so that he can be killed there. ER must lure the victim into a trap. He receives 300,000 euros for this, according to a co-defendant. ER has denied this.

After all, it takes the Copja clan a year to successfully complete their “operation.” Once the killing is complete, the clan members involved share images of muscles, bottles of liquor, and clinking glasses.

From the United Arab Emirates

The trial at the High Court of Criminal Appeals began on Monday with jury selection. Hearings will open today. The trial will take place in the former NATO buildings, now converted into the Justitia court, the same venue where the terrorist trial took place.

A total of nine people are on trial. One of them is the suspected gang leader Franc Gergely. He was the first suspect to be extradited from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to our country. This happened in December 2023. Our country already signed an extradition treaty with the United Arab Emirates in 2021, but in practice, it took some time before this had concrete consequences.

His relative youth is impressive. Gergely was born in December 1992. At a very young age - he was barely 14 - he became involved in crime and became a key figure. He is considered the mastermind behind the Brussels murders.

Protected witness

It is also extraordinary that one of the nine suspects in the trial has been granted protected witness status. This status has only existed in our country since 2002 and is granted to only two or three people a year.

The statute protects witnesses who fear for their safety precisely because of their testimony. This protection can range from providing advice on securing their home to providing a new identity.

Of the nine suspects, at least three will not be present. Despite an international arrest warrant, they were not actually arrested. They are on the run and remain wanted./ Adapted from CNA

Taken from VRT NEWS.