Albanian people-smuggler facing jail in Belgium free to play GOLF after fighting to stay in UK for 7 years
A CONVICTED people-smuggler is free to play golf here after fighting extradition for seven years.
Kujdesi Dauti’s expulsion to Belgium has even been delayed as he awaits sentence for further crimes in the UK.
The brazen Albanian crook, 41, can be seen online in shorts and sunglasses enjoying a round of golf as his cases crawl through courts.
In 2018, Dauti was convicted in absentia by a court in Belgium for smuggling hundreds of migrants into Britain in the back of lorries.
The construction worker and dad of two was held by the National Crime Agency along with his cousins Alket Dauti, 38, and Sabah Zaka, 40, at the request of Belgian authorities.
Alket, jailed for 12 years, fought extradition for two years before being sent to a prison there.
Dauti, of Elm Park, East London, and Zaka, of Bromley, South East London, each got eight years’ jail but have fought extradition since.
Both men were handed bail by a judge in London and Dauti was also granted legal aid to fight his case.
The court in Belgium heard the gang charged desperate migrants £13,000 for a seat in the front of a lorry and £8,000 in the back.
Their hands and feet were wrapped in plastic bags so as not to leave any traces in the refrigerated lorries.
In 2023, Dauti pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle-taking and is awaiting sentence at Snaresbrook crown court, East London.
As a result, his appeal against extradition is currently on hold.
The Crown Prosecution Service said: “Dauti has applied for permission to appeal to the High Court.
“The case cannot currently proceed because Dauti has a domestic criminal case in this country. He has been convicted of aggravated vehicle-taking and awaits sentence.
“Under UK extradition law, a person cannot be extradited if there are domestic criminal proceedings (or a prison sentence to serve).”
A Belgian prosecution source said: “It’s crazy. He has been convicted and sentenced seven years ago and he is still not behind bars. He is exploiting the British system.”
The Sun on Sunday revealed last week that UK-based Albanian Adriatik Hysenlika, 43 — also convicted in his absence in Belgium for 60 immigration offences — claimed he should not be extradited as prisons in Belgium are over-crowded.
He is currently in Wandsworth jail here.
Confronted at his home, Dauti told our reporter: “I don’t have to answer to you. Don’t publish nothing (sic) from me because I do not give you authorisation to do so.”
Told the story was in the public interest, he replied: “Public interest? You are talking b****cks.”
Office for National Statistics figures show Albanians are the most arrested nationality per head of population in the UK.
For every 1,000, 209.8 have been nicked compared to 12 in every 1,000 Brits.
In 2023, 3,926 foreign offenders were deported from the UK, of which 37 per cent were Albanian.