According to Thanasi, some of the bearers of these passports are ethnic Albanians from Kosovo, who still need visas to travel to Europe. Others include Albanian citizens who have been banned from entering the European Union. Still others are convicted criminals, individuals wanted by the authorities, and even Iranian citizens linked to terrorist activities.
Durim Sula of the Albanian newspaper Investigimi, and Dr. Idriz Tafa, writing for the Durres Bulevard, said Yemeni terrorists as well as members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard have falsified Albanian biometric passports with stolen Albanian identities, according to a report obtained by Investigimi.
The passports have been at the center of several major scandals. The death of high-ranking Albanian intelligence officer, Isa Copa, is being linked in press reports to an investigation into Iranian citizens bearing stolen identities. Copa was murdered in late October of this year. Further, Bujar Himci, the deputy minister of Internal Affairs, and Veli Myftari, the Director General of the Albanian Police, were arrested for embezzling US$4 million from government funds allocated for biometric passports. They were later imprisoned after an American company called Euroget proved that it had been illegally prevented from bidding for the tender to win the contract to make biometric passports in Albania.
While Himci and Myftari were convicted for embezzling funds, no high-ranking officials have yet been convicted for illegally issuing passports or aiding terrorists.
