Accused drug trafficker still at large six weeks after slipping away from brother's funeral
Orijol Rukaj absconded from a crowded Melbourne cemetery on Anzac Day while serving as a pallbearer, and police have yet to locate him.
An accused drug trafficker has evaded authorities for six weeks after escaping custody during his brother's funeral in Melbourne's north-west on Anzac Day. Orijol Rukaj, 47, was escorted to the service by corrections staff but managed to disappear before police could intervene, triggering an ongoing manhunt.
Rukaj had been brought to the Keilor East cemetery under corrections supervision to farewell his brother. He performed pallbearer duties, helping carry the coffin to its final resting place, before slipping away from custody shortly afterward.
The funeral drew roughly 300 mourners, a crowd that investigators believe aided Rukaj's disappearance. Police say they believe he remains in the Melbourne area and have continued efforts to locate him in the weeks since.
Authorities have escalated their response as the weeks without an arrest have mounted. Victoria Police characterised the escape as an ongoing priority and indicated they were pursuing active lines of inquiry, though the specifics of those efforts have not been disclosed publicly.
Coverage of the case has emphasised different dimensions of the escape. Some outlets focused on the operational lapse — how a prisoner under escort managed to disappear amid a large public gathering — while others highlighted the duration of the search and the difficulty of locating a suspect believed to be sheltering within a major city.
Rukaj was in custody facing drug trafficking allegations at the time of the escape. The circumstances under which a remand prisoner is granted supervised attendance at a private funeral are governed by corrections policy, and the case has renewed scrutiny of the protocols surrounding such arrangements.
Nearly seven weeks have now passed without an arrest, a period that raises questions about the resources and intelligence available to investigators tracking Rukaj. Police have not publicly named persons of interest who may be sheltering him or described the leads they are following.
Authorities have urged anyone with information on Rukaj's whereabouts to contact Crime Stoppers. His drug trafficking charges remain before the courts, and any trial proceedings are expected to be delayed for as long as he remains at large.