On February 17, 2026, police arrested 8 individuals exploiting minors for begging. Among those detained in blue uniforms were 4 men and 4 women. Eles Brahimaj, Rakip Sinani, Mikel Rama, and Miklovan Gogaj were given prison arrest measures, while 4 women accompanying children on the street were placed under house arrest. All these individuals had turned work in the area of the former Block in Tirana into a practice. An activity that exposed the young children to various risks during the late hours of the night. It is not exactly the begging phenomenon we know. That begging phenomenon where an extended hand is requested. It is a specific case. First of all, with this police action, we received disturbing information from citizens regarding children seen on the street late at night on the main road of the former Block. Where there are several environments, venues, night pubs. Concerns were also about children who should not have been there, but also about the fact that the children were being disturbed. There was an action that centered on children, on both sides of the coin," said prosecutor Alma Bramo. Altin Hazizaj, director of 'Alo 116', the national child protection line, provides some serious details on how this scheme is implemented. Parents or other exploiters who may not be relatives assign fixed quotas to the minors on the money they must earn. So, they also faced psychological violence. "Most children in street situations have certain conditions for when they must return home. If before it was 200 lek, now it is around 500 new lek. A child who does not meet it does not return home, they gather in areas like the Block, the boulevard where there is movement and money, and they sleep or stay outside. They sleep in groups, or have places where they hide," said Altin Hazizaj, Director of the Center for the Protection of Children's Rights. The prosecutor leading the investigations into child exploiters provides some details that seem inconceivable for a father. They would bring the family out on the street at night hours and then leave themselves. "It was another form that had to do with the parents. The children's parents exploited the late hours of the night, mainly on weekends, and took their children, girls and boys, came to the Block area, and from 11 at night until 5 in the morning, stayed all along the road with roses in hand. Only the mothers, because the fathers returned to the apartment, offered roses for sale," said prosecutor Alma Bramo. Practically, children were not only exploited by their parents for begging but also by adults to achieve their harassment goals. In fact, for nightlife frequenters in the Block, or even in other well-known areas in Tirana, something like this is a tangible reality every week. "From the questions I have asked the children, and I have done it myself, besides offering roses, they were used and exploited as intermediaries to make those acquaintances that are made today by taking Instagrams, or phone numbers of girls and boys. Against payments," said prosecutor Alma Bramo. What is most concerning, according to the prosecutor's testimony, is also the fact that the questioned individuals were not aware of the legal violations they had committed. They consider it something very common. "The children considered it normal work. The value of the rose that we know is bought for so much and sold for a bit more, the rose was the form of asking for money. During a 6-month period, it happened every weekend. The problem? The children were forced to work," said prosecutor Alma Bramo. "They were not aware that this activity was punishable, I did not expect them to know, but also inappropriate. It was considered a way for the whole family to secure income together," said prosecutor Alma Bramo. Most children in street situations tended to leave school and were part of the education system... and here begins the real problem!