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UK Border Force officials let ‘Most Wanted’ Albanian killer BACK into the UK and banned crook runs a car wash and lives nearby

Violent thug Selami Cokaj rakes in £40,000 from his business after sneaking way back into Britain

AN Albanian murderer kicked out of Britain sneaked back in under the noses of the bungling Border Force to run a car wash firm.

Selami Cokaj, 43, once on Interpol’s Most Wanted list, was deported in 2009 and banned from returning.

 Albanian killer Selami Cokaj has managed to sneak his way back into Britain
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Albanian killer Selami Cokaj has managed to sneak his way back into BritainCredit: Ian Whittaker / News Group Newspapers Ltd
 Cokaj is listed as owner on Companies House records of this car wash
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Cokaj is listed as owner on Companies House records of this car washCredit: Ian Whittaker / News Group Newspapers Ltd

But he now runs a successful car wash in Oadby, Leics, using his real name and lives with his family in a detached house nearby.

The killer is pictured welcoming yet another customer to his thriving car wash after sneaking back into Britain to set up home here again.

Officials kicked Cokaj out of the UK in 2009 after discovering he was a fugitive from a 20-year jail term in Albania.

 The violent Albanian criminal was jailed in 1994 for knife murder
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The violent Albanian criminal was jailed in 1994 for knife murderCredit: Ian Whittaker / News Group Newspapers Ltd
 Cop mugshot . . . Selami Cokaj
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Cop mugshot . . . Selami CokajCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
 The killer welcomes another customer to his thriving car wash business
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The killer welcomes another customer to his thriving car wash businessCredit: Ian Whittaker / News Group Newspapers Ltd
 Selami Cokaj was extradited in 2009 after UK officials discovered he was a fugitive
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Selami Cokaj was extradited in 2009 after UK officials discovered he was a fugitiveCredit: Ian Whittaker / News Group Newspapers Ltd
 Cokaj somehow managed to sneak his way back into the UK
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Cokaj somehow managed to sneak his way back into the UKCredit: Ian Whittaker / News Group Newspapers Ltd

But he somehow slipped past bungling Border Force officials and is now openly living here with his family under his real name — and runs two car valeting firms that are raking in £40,000 a year.

Tory MP Philip Davies said: “It’s quite extraordinary this man could ever have got back into the UK.

“It shows how weak our border controls are.

"It makes you wonder how many other foreign criminals have sneaked back in.”

 He rakes in £40,000-a-year from his car wash business
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He rakes in £40,000-a-year from his car wash businessCredit: Ian Whittaker / News Group Newspapers Ltd
 Prices start at £15 a vehicle at the violent thug's car washing business
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Prices start at £15 a vehicle at the violent thug's car washing businessCredit: Ian Whittaker / News Group Newspapers Ltd
 The Albanian was once on Interpol's Most Wanted list after escaping from jail
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The Albanian was once on Interpol's Most Wanted list after escaping from jailCredit: Ian Whittaker / News Group Newspapers Ltd
 He is now living in the UK with his family under his real name
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He is now living in the UK with his family under his real nameCredit: Ian Whittaker / News Group Newspapers Ltd

A rule that says foreign nationals who serve more than four years’ jail are automatically banned from the UK should have made Cokaj’s return impossible.

A source said: “He should have been picked up by Border Force when he entered the country.

“The fact he wasn’t suggests maybe he arrived clandestinely or didn’t disclose the conviction.”

 He lives in £1,500-a-month home despite being in the UK illegally
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He lives in £1,500-a-month home despite being in the UK illegallyCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
 Cokaj's return should have been impossible under Border Force rules
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Cokaj's return should have been impossible under Border Force rulesCredit: Ian Whittaker / News Group Newspapers Ltd

It is unclear when or how Cokaj arrived but he is doing nothing to hide his identity.

Companies House records list him as director of two car valeting firms — one a busy car wash in Oadby, Leics, where prices start at £15 a vehicle.

He lives with his family in a four-bedroom house nearby, rented for £1,500 a month.

Cokaj, once on Interpol’s Most Wanted list, first arrived here in 1999 using the alias Valton Gashi and posing as a refugee from the Kosovan conflict.


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 The killer (middle) also has a record of armed robbies
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The killer (middle) also has a record of armed robbiesCredit: Ian Whittaker / News Group Newspapers Ltd

In fact he was a violent Albanian criminal who had been jailed in 1994 for a knife murder.

He was sentenced to 15 years, later increased to 20 for a further armed robbery conviction.

But after three years he escaped.

Within months of coming to the UK he was living in Mansfield, Notts, had set up a car wash firm and met his future wife.

 Tory MP Philip Davies has said Selami Cokaj's case shows how weak UK border controls are
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Tory MP Philip Davies has said Selami Cokaj's case shows how weak UK border controls areCredit: PA:Press Association
 He first arrived in the UK back in 1999 predenting to be refugee from the Kosovan conflict
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He first arrived in the UK back in 1999 predenting to be refugee from the Kosovan conflictCredit: Ian Whittaker / News Group Newspapers Ltd
 It is unclear how Selami Cokaj arrived back in the UK
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It is unclear how Selami Cokaj arrived back in the UKCredit: Ian Whittaker / News Group Newspapers Ltd

His past caught up with him in 2006 and after a three-year extradition process he was deported.

But under Albanian law too much time had elapsed since his original sentence and he was freed in 2012.

Figures show twice as many Albanian stowaways have been caught at our ports than any other nationality in the past eight years.

The Home Office said: “This Government puts the safety of our country first.

"That’s why we’ve taken action like introducing ‘deport first, appeal later’ to stop this kind of thing happening.”

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