TIRANA, Albania — The United Kingdom and Albania have signed a landmark Asset Sharing Arrangement, becoming the first countries in the Western Balkans to establish an agreement of this kind for sharing proceeds recovered from serious organised crime.
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| Risena Xhaja, Chief Administrator of Albania's Agency for the Management of Seized and Confiscated Property (AAPSK), and British Ambassador to Albania Nicholas Abbott during discussions regarding the landmark asset-sharing arrangement between the UK and Albania. |
The agreement was announced by the British Embassy in Tirana on August 26, 2026, marking a new stage in cooperation between the two countries against cross-border criminal networks.
£54,000 in Recovered Assets to Be Shared Equally
The initial arrangement covers approximately £54,000 in recovered real estate assets.
The assets were identified and recovered in Albania through cooperation between British and Albanian authorities following a concluded prosecution involving a drug-related case in England and Wales.
Under the agreement, the recovered proceeds will be divided 50/50 between the UK Government and Albania's Agency for the Management of Seized and Confiscated Property (AAPSK).
The mechanism is designed to ensure that criminal proceeds do not simply disappear into complex international networks, but instead become resources that can be redirected toward legitimate social purposes.
A Case Linked to Organised Cannabis Supply
According to the British government, the agreement relates to a concluded prosecution involving conspiracy to supply cannabis to organised crime groups in England and Wales.
Following the prosecution, UK and Albanian authorities worked together to trace and recover proceeds of crime located in Albania.
The new arrangement provides a formal framework for both countries to benefit from those recovery efforts.
Cooperation Between UK and Albanian Authorities
The agreement was developed through months of cooperation between British and Albanian law enforcement and judicial institutions.
The partners involved include the UK Home Office, National Crime Agency (NCA), Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and Albania's AAPSK.
The agreement was initially discussed during a formal ceremony in Tirana on July 13, 2026, attended by British Ambassador to Albania Nicholas Abbott and AAPSK Chief Administrator Risena Xhaja.
It was formally completed and signed in the United Kingdom on August 6, 2026.
Why the Agreement Matters
The British government says the agreement represents a new precedent for international cooperation on asset recovery and serious organised crime in the Western Balkans.
Criminal organisations increasingly operate across borders, moving and laundering proceeds through property, financial systems, informal transfer mechanisms and cryptocurrencies.
By targeting the money generated by organised crime, authorities aim to attack what the UK describes as the criminal business model itself.
The principle is straightforward: if criminal groups can no longer safely retain or benefit from the proceeds of their activities, the financial incentive behind organised crime is weakened.
Albania's Growing Asset Recovery Efforts
The agreement also comes as Albania increases its efforts to seize and manage assets suspected of being connected to criminal activity.
According to the UK government, the value of assets seized and confiscated in Albania exceeded €58 million during the first quarter of 2025 alone, including more than 1,000 real estate seizures and confiscations.
The figures highlight the scale of the challenge facing Albanian authorities, particularly regarding the use of real estate to conceal or launder criminal proceeds.
The UK has also supported Albania by providing software and specialist training aimed at strengthening investigations into serious organised crime, money laundering and the growing use of cryptocurrency by criminal networks.
A New Model for UK-Albanian Cooperation
The asset-sharing agreement goes beyond the recovery of money from a single case.
It establishes a model under which the two countries can work together to identify criminal assets across borders and ensure that recovered proceeds can ultimately benefit society.
For Albania and the UK, the message is increasingly clear: criminal networks may operate internationally, but their money can be traced internationally as well.
The new arrangement could therefore become an important precedent for future cooperation between Albania, Britain and other countries across the Western Balkans.