Wiretapped conversations from an ongoing investigation by the Serious Crimes Prosecution Office were leaked.

The wiretaps revealed that Vangjush Dako, a three-term mayor of Durrës, member of the Socialist Party Steering Committee at the time, and the party official responsible for the election campaign in Durrës, was part of a scheme to secure votes for the Socialist Party during the June 2017 parliamentary elections in collaboration with a local crime family: the Avdylaj clan.

Members of the Avdylaj clan engaged in vote-buying and intimidation of state and municipal employees in the district of Durrës. In exchange for helping the Socialist Party to secure votes, the clan was offered preferential access to several local institutions (most notably the local land tenure office).

The clan did benefit from access to local government institutions. Astrit Avdylaj, the most prominent member of the clan, asked Elton Arbana, the chairman of the Socialist Party in the district of Shijak (Durrës region) to intervene by annulling a fine for unauthorised construction that had been imposed by the construction inspectorate of the municipality of Durrës. The wiretaps also indicate that the clan gained access to the local land tenure office.

The relations between the mayor and the Avdylaj clan were discovered in
an ongoing criminal investigation into drug trafficking. The
investigation led to a police operation codenamed “Vol-vo 4”. Some 27
suspects from the Avdylaj clan were arrested in October 2018. The case
“339” has been transferred to the Special Prosecution Office, which has
submitted the charges to the Special Court against Corruption and
Organised Crime. The trail is ongoing for 25 individuals charged with
narcotics trafficking, being a structured criminal group, and three
other criminal offences.

The US Department of State declared Dako and his family members
ineligible for entry into the United States because of credible
information of involvement in significant corruption. Dako failed to be
selected as the Socialist Party nominee for a fourth term as mayor of
Durrës.

Dako was not charged, but the General Prosecutor’s Office has maintained
that his activities are under investigation. He was questioned once by
the prosecution about his connections with the Avdylaj clan.