Fugitive Albanian Mobster Arrested in Canada

Lika was on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)’s ‘Most Wanted’ list for “his participation in an international drug smuggling ring and criminal enterprise organization.” The FBI started investigating him in late 2003 and in 2009 he was indicted by the District Court of New Jersey.

Toronto police have been searching for Lika since he arrived in Canada that year with two associates. The three men were on the run from the US authorities following a four-year sting dubbed “Operation Black Eagle,” after the Albanian flag.  The authorities were examining New Jersey and New York-based Balkan organized crime groups.

Following the operation, 26 people were indicted on charges of narcotics and firearms trafficking, money laundering, interstate transportation of stolen property, and criminal conspiracy. A total of 22 were either arrested during the sting or were already in custody.

The first of Lika’s associates, Gazmir Gjoka, was arrested in Albania in November 2009. The second man, Myfit “Mike” Dika, was arrested by the Fugitive Task Force in Toronto in January 2010. A fourth fugitive, Rodan Kote, surrendered to the FBI in December 2009, after returning to the US from Albania.

The whole organization was about 24 strong. But these two, Lika and Dika, were basically the leaders of the organization, or at least one facet of it” said the Special Agent Jim Farley who led the 2009 operation against the US-based Albanian mafia.

Speaking of the group’s heroin smuggling and sales, agent Farley added  that “Their coverage was mostly in Northern New Jersey, New York, but with ties to Chicago, Detroit, and Texas, and international ties back home in Macedonia and Albania.”

Lika is awaiting an extradition hearing.