Bashkim Osmani was taken to court after arriving from Croatia. | Alejandro Sepúlveda

TW
1

Bashkim Osmani, the Kosovar Albanian suspected of being the head of an international mafia dedicated to money laundering (the proceeds from drugs trafficking and prostitution), has been remanded in custody by a court in Palma.

On Wednesday, Osmani was extradited from Croatia, where he was arrested two weeks ago as part of Operation Casino. Centred on Mallorca, this was an international police operation that was carried out simultaneously in various countries - Belgium and the UK were two others. The scale of the operation in Mallorca was such that agents from the FBI and the US Drug Enforcement Administration were involved.

In court on Wednesday, Osmani exercised his right not to testify before the judge or to answer questions from the prosecutor. He proclaimed his innocence, answered questions from his lawyer and was ordered to prison. He was taken to the prison in Palma, where he will initially be in an isolation zone for Covid quarantine. It is understood that he will then enter a normal wing of the prison.

He owns a mansion in Camp de Mar, which is where he typically lives for most of the year.