"Brits Linked to Albanian Blood Feud Uncovered Following Businessman's Beachfront Bar Execution"

DISGUISED as a moped delivery driver, CCTV footage shows a hitman calmly walking into an Albanian beachfront bar and blasting businessman Ardian Nikulaj seven times with a handgun.

The shocking video of could be a scene from a thriller. But this was a real-life hit, the latest chapter in a 30-year blood feud which has now seen eight murders – and bizarrely, it’s a group of Brits and their accomplices that are now at the centre of the deadly quarrel.

CCTV captured the moment businessman Ardian Nikulaj was shot seven times at his beachfront barCredit: Unknown Nikulaj, left, above with brother Arben Nikulaj, was brutally murdered in April 2023Credit: Louis Wood Detectives suspect Portuguese national Ruben Saraiva, who had been living in the UK for years, pulled the trigger on ArdianCredit: Louis Wood Ardian’s wife Rudina, pictured right with her daughter Ambra, was in their apartment two floors above the bar but was unaware of what had happened until she heard screamingCredit: Louis Wood

All of the slaughter has taken place in a remote region of northern Albania where an ancient creed of revenge still holds sway.

Yet was unique in Albania’s long and bloody because for the first time a foreign team of alleged assassins was recruited – from Britain.

And, while in fear more bloodshed, the next stage of this endless war between two families is being fought out in the UK , where the accused killers of Ardian Nikulaj are fighting extradition to Albania for trial.

As their appeal rumbles on, The Sun travelled to Albania to retrace the steps of the alleged hit squad in the days and hours before the shooting.

Ardian’s heartbroken family also opened their dossier of evidence to us, which, they say, proves who was behind his brutal murder.

And they also revealed their fears that the killing is not yet over – Ardian’s brother has been told there is a £1.7million price on his head with enemies in the UK scouring the globe for a hitman willing to take the contract.

Ardian’s widow, Rudina, 49, wept as she told The Sun: “The killing has to stop – there has been too much already.

“We want justice for Ardian and are pleading with the UK to do the right thing and send those people suspected of this here to face trial.

“But the bloodshed also has to end. Too many have been left without a father.”

The feud began in 1997 when Ardian’s brother, Pëllumb Nikulaj, was employed as a security guard at a petrol station in Albania, and he challenged the Lekstakaj family.

A youth drove off without paying after filling up, so he went to speak to the lad’s father to seek payment.

A few hours later, a seven-strong gang armed with a machine gun turned up at the petrol station and shot dead Ardian’s brother and his boss.

Over the next two years, there were three more killings, two more members of the Lekstakaj family and a gunman from the same family after he ambushed Pëllumb‘s uncle, Nikoll Nikulaj.

But the feud then lay dormant for 24 years before it erupted again on a sunny day in April 2023 in the seaside resort of Shengjin.

At 13.23pm, businessman and local politician Ardian, 51, settled down at a table in the beachfront bar that he owned, next door to the Coral hotel, which he ran with brother Arben.

Seconds after taking a call on his mobile phone he glanced up to see what appeared to be a motorbike courier entering the bar.

I raced down to the bar and by then he was on the floor with a tablecloth over him. I went to hold him but people wouldn’t let me. He was already gone

Ardian’s wife Rudina

As the man, who was disguised with a surgical mask, approached Ardian’s table he reached into his right trouser pocket and took out a handgun.

Stepping closer to Ardian with each shot, he fired off seven rounds, each one hitting the helpless businessman who slumped dead in his chair.

The gunman fled the bar and ran to his waiting motorbike, which he had parked nearby with the engine idling.

The assassin drove south to the Greek border, crossed over, and, according to police, fled to to lie low.

CCTV thought to be showing Saraiva on a moped leaving the crime sceneCredit: Louis Wood Detectives successfully applied for Saraiva’s extradition after they traced him to Morocco, and he will now face trial for murderCredit: Louis Wood Brit Harry Simpson, 34, a convicted drug dealer from South London, is another suspectCredit: Louis Wood Alleged ringleader British-Albanian Edmond Haxhia, 40, of Birmingham, is a cousin of the brothers locked in the feud with Ardian’s familyCredit: Louis Wood CCTV of suspects Harriet Bridgeman and Steven Hunt checking into Ardian’s hotel, both accused of being involved in observations of the victim’s movements before the murderCredit: Louis Wood

Ardian’s wife of 22 years, Rudina, was in their apartment two floors above the bar but was unaware of what had happened until a hysterical waitress burst in screaming that he had been shot.

She said: “I raced down to the bar and by then he was on the floor with a tablecloth over him.

“I went to hold him, but people wouldn’t let me. He was already gone.

“Everyone was screaming and shouting; it was awful.”

Mysterious Brit hotel guests

Police launched an and suspicion quickly turned on a couple of Brits who had stayed at Ardian’s hotel.

They included Harry Simpson, 34, a convicted dealer, of Abbey Wood, South , whose behaviour the family thought odd even before the shooting.

Rudina said: “He had been staying here for a few days, but whenever he ordered a bottle of , he never left the empty lying around.

“He always took it away with him. We thought that was weird.

“And he always seemed to be on his phone, videoing different parts of the hotel. At one stage, he tried to go into a private area where only staff are allowed, again filming on his phone.”

The police also focused on young mum Harriet Bridgeman, 30.

Hotel check-in information seen by The Sun shows she booked a triple room with a balcony for a four-day stay on Booking.com for 388 euros.

The scene of Ardian’s execution in the Coral BarCredit: Louis Wood Bridgeman is currently in hiding at a secret address amid fears she may be targeted by Albanian criminalsCredit: Louis Wood A drawing from a child who saw Saraiva near the bar where Ardian was killedCredit: Louis Wood The attempts to eliminate Ardian Nikulaj started in 2021, said an Albanian organised crime expertCredit: Louis Wood

She arrived on Monday, April 3, just over a fortnight before the attack, and quickly raised suspicions due to her apparent desire to befriend Ardian.

His brother Arben said: “She was talking to him like she wanted to get to know him, but he did not speak English.

“The staff told her to speak to a waiter who does speak English if she wanted anything.

“At one stage, her credit card didn’t work when she was paying for lunch, so Ardian told the staff that he would pick up the tab.

“He did the same when she ordered a taxi. That’s the sort of man he was, generous to a fault.

“The idea that people he accepted into his hotel and made welcome are now suspected of being involved in his killing is very hard to accept.

“In Albania, if someone offers you hospitality, you accept it gracefully. You don’t throw it back at them in the worst way possible.”

An expert said: “The attempts to eliminate Ardian Nikulaj started in 2021.

“But those who wanted him dead couldn’t get anyone local to take on their £1.7million contract, so they looked further afield.

The petrol station where security guard Pëllumb Nikulaj, brother of Ardian, was murdered in 1997 after challenging the Lekstakaj family, which started the blood feudCredit: Louis Wood The table where Ardian was killed now has a permanent reserved sign on itCredit: Louis Wood

“Ardian was tipped off, and he increased his security. The only place he went without close protection was his hotel and bar, where he felt safe due to the modern CCTV.

“It was those very cameras that eventually recorded his murder.”

Fight for justice

After the hit, Albanian police found the getaway bike dumped in a river.

They discovered it had been sold online a short time before the shooting and spoke to the seller, who gave them the contact details of the woman who had bought it.

When cops tracked her down, she told officers the man she was , a British-Albanian called Edmond Haxhia who is a cousin of the brothers locked in the feud with Ardian’s family, had used her identity papers to buy the bike.

The same woman had also picked up two men from Tirana airport ahead of the hit –Simpson and a national who had been living in the UK for years, Ruben Saraiva, 27.

Detectives suspect Saraiva pulled the trigger and successfully applied for his extradition after they traced him to Morocco.

He is the only one of the suspected gang to have so far been brought back to Albania where he will face trial for murder.

Joining him in the dock if Albania’s extradition request to the UK is granted will be alleged ringleader Haxhia, 40, of , and the suspected surveillance team of Simpson, of Abbey Wood, South London, and Bridgeman, Steven Hunt, 51, and Thomas Mithan, 37, all of .

Bridgeman is currently in hiding at a secret address amid fears she may be targeted by Albanian .

The extradition request was initially granted at Westminster Magistrates’ in August last year, although a decision on Hunt was delayed for reasons.

District Judge Daniel Sternberg said: “The Government of Albania’s case is that Edmond Haxhia organised the shooting of Ardian Nikulaj by Reuben Saraiva and that the other requested persons, Steven Hunt, Thomas Mithan, Harriet Bridgeman and Harry Simpson were involved in observations of the victim’s movements in the days leading up to the shooting, and in Simpson’s case on the day of the shooting itself, and that each of them played a part in the planning and execution of the murder.”

All five, who were arrested in a joint op between Albanian cops and the UK’s National Crime Agency, deny the claims against them and are appealing the decision.

They appeared at the High Court in London in December seeking leave to appeal to the against Judge Sternberg’s ruling.

The decision will be delivered later.

Back in Shengjin, Ardian’s brother Arben spends every day looking over his shoulder.

He said: “I kiss my children every night not knowing if I will see them again tomorrow.”

At the Coral Bar, the table where Ardian was killed has a permanent reserved sign on it.

His daughter Ambra, 23, said: “No-one will ever be served at that table again. It helps us to remember him every day – he was a wonderful man. He was more than my dad. He was my hero.”

He was more than my dad. He was my hero, says daughter Ambra, 23Credit: Louis Wood