Two weeks before Albanian police and the elite RENEA special forces arrested Ylli Zalla, he had already been formally charged by Tirana Prosecution. 

The case against Zalla had also been submitted to the Tirana District Court. He is accused of illegal possession of firearms and the production and sale of narcotics. On June 7, the court ordered his detention in prison in absentia.

The investigation into Zalla began shortly after the killing of Gilmando Dani, a case that has drawn significant attention from Albanian authorities. Investigators subsequently questioned residents living near the scene of the killing, as well as people from the area where the alleged perpetrators abandoned and burned a vehicle.

As part of the investigation into Dani’s murder, Zalla was summoned as a person with knowledge of the case. Police went to his home two days after the killing, which shocked the Rinas area last November.

According to the prosecutor, officers contacted Zalla by telephone. He reportedly told them, “I will come forward.” After that conversation, however, authorities say he stopped communicating with police and failed to return to his home, which had reportedly been under surveillance for months.

Police searches subsequently extended to the area around his parents’ home, located nearby. According to official records, investigators discovered weapons and other items, including binoculars, improvised explosive devices and hand grenades. The explosives were reportedly neutralized by RENEA specialists.

Authorities also seized mobile phones, automatic weapons and suspected narcotics.

RENEA and State Police eventually arrested Zalla near the village where he lived, one day after an explosive device was placed at his home in Zallë, Fushë-Krujë. Investigators reportedly suspected that the incident may have been staged by Zalla himself in an attempt to evade arrest.

Authorities ultimately took Zalla into custody, and he was formally indicted in connection with the weapons and drug-related allegations.