Victory for Priti Patel as Albanian killer who raked in £40k a year from car wash job - and was once on Interpol's most wanted list - is finally deported after five years
An Albanian murderer who raked in more than £40,000 a year from a car wash business has finally been deported in a legal victory for Home Secretary Priti Patel.
Selami Cokaj, once on Interpol's most wanted list, fled to Britain after escaping from prison in Albania where he had been jailed for stabbing a man to death in 1994.
He was sent back to his homeland in 2009 but sneaked back to the UK in 2015 before setting up several businesses and living openly in Leicester.
Now, after five years, the 47-year-old has been deported to Albania.
Speaking from Albania's capital Tirana where she signed a deal last week to strengthen deportation arrangements, the Home Secretary told The Mail on Sunday: 'I make no apology for seeking to remove dangerous foreign criminals to keep the British public safe.
An Albanian murderer who raked in more than £40,000 a year from a car wash business has finally been deported in a legal victory for Home Secretary Priti Patel. Selami Cokaj , once on Interpol's most wanted list, fled to Britain after escaping from prison in Albania where he had been jailed for stabbing a man to death in 1994
Speaking from Albania's capital Tirana where she signed a deal last week to strengthen deportation arrangements, the Home Secretary (pictured earlier this year) told The Mail on Sunday: 'I make no apology for seeking to remove dangerous foreign criminals to keep the British public safe'
'So far this year, more than 1,000 foreign criminals have been deported, with more being removed every single week.
'Too many offenders are making unjustifiable and opportunistic claims as an attempt to stop or delay their deportation. This cannot continue.'
She added: 'I'm here in Tirana signing a new deal that will allow us to remove Albanian nationals who have committed some of the most heinous crimes and abused our hospitality.
'Mail on Sunday readers rightly expect we take tough action, and they will be heartened to know that this Government is speeding up the removal of these dangerous foreign offenders.
'Since April we've sent back over 250 Albanian criminals.'
Albanians make up the largest number of foreign nationals in UK jails, totalling 16 per cent of overseas offenders.
The latest figures show the number of Albanians in prison has almost doubled from 876 in August 2019 to 1,574 in March this year.
Based on the current rate of £44,600 a year to keep an offender in jail, the prison service is estimated to spend around £70 million annually to keep Albanians behind bars.
On her trip to Tirana, the Home Secretary met Albanian prime minister Edi Rama to discuss a crackdown on organised crime groups behind drug trafficking, illicit finance and organised immigration crime to the UK
The Balkan state's criminal gangs are globally renowned for drug trafficking and production, and they play a leading role in people-smuggling to Britain.
Ms Patel's new deal will allow the Government to remove Albanian criminals more quickly as part of the proposed Nationality and Borders Bill.
It will enable foreign crooks to be deported from prisons a year before the end of their sentence, rather than nine months, meaning they can serve the remainder of their sentence in their own country's jails.
The new measure comes after the Government signed an agreement with Albania to remove jailed criminals in 2013 – which resulted in just 24 being removed six years later.
The Government has removed 254 Albanian criminals from Britain since April and another 85 with no right to be in this country, but a number of the Eastern European nation's criminals have been able to remain in the UK after falsely claiming refugee status following the war in Kosovo which ended in 1999.
On her trip to Tirana, the Home Secretary met Albanian prime minister Edi Rama to discuss a crackdown on organised crime groups behind drug trafficking, illicit finance and organised immigration crime to the UK.