Ecuador: The authorities crack down on the Albanian cocaine mafia, 29 arrested from the organization that owed money from Shkodran (EMRI)

2024-02-06 16:50:46Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Ecuador: The authorities crack down on the Albanian cocaine mafia, 29 arrested
Albanian Dritan Gjika

A major international operation has been launched in Ecuador and Spain to crack down on a criminal organization of international cocaine trafficking and money laundering.

After two and a half years of investigations, the authorities report that they managed to hit the organization led by the Albanian Dritan Gjika from Shkodra, connected to Ruben Cherres, a friend of the brother-in-law of the former president of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso.

During the early hours of this morning, 57 checks were carried out in Ecuador and Spain as part of the "Pampa" and "Gran Fenix ​​13" operations. In Ecuador, interventions were made in Guayas, El Oro, Santa Elena, Cotopaxi, Pichincha and Azuay, while in Spain in Barcelona, ​​Málaga, Marbella and Valencia. In total, 30 people were arrested, 12 of them in Spain. Those arrested are Ecuadorian, Spanish, Argentine, Colombian and Chinese.

Ecuador: The authorities crack down on the Albanian cocaine mafia, 29 arrested

They are suspected of 11 incidents where 2.3 tons of cocaine were seized in Ecuador and various European countries. During the operation in Spain, 450,000 euros were seized. In total, 10 weapons, 25 vehicles and cell phones were confiscated according to the Ecuadorian Prosecutor's Office. The authorities identified the modus operandi of this criminal organization dedicated to drug trafficking, led by Dritan Gjika, who entered Ecuador in November 2009.

Dritan Gjika has been investigated by the Police for years. The continuation ended in the León de Troya case, which involves Danilo Carrera, the brother-in-law of President Lasso, who allegedly managed public offices, with the collaboration of his friend Rubén Cherres.

According to the investigation, this criminal organization ordered cocaine from cocaine production laboratories in Colombia and coordinated the sale in Europe. The drug arrived from Colombia to Ecuador, where it contaminated containers of bananas to be sent to Belgium, the Netherlands, Turkey and Albania. According to the investigations, this organization used natural and legal persons for the purchase of movable and immovable assets and the laundering of money from drug trafficking.


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