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INVESTIGATION/ The NAMES of Albanian BUSINESSMEN who are hiding behind companies that traffic drugs to Europe are published!

2025-06-27 16:05:24Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

INVESTIGATION/ The NAMES of Albanian BUSINESSMEN who are hiding behind companies

An investigation by Ecuadorian media outlet Infobae.com refers to a report by C4ADS, a Washington-based nonprofit research institute, showing how six Albanian companies importing bananas from Ecuador have been involved in drug seizures since 2014.

“ Masabi Fruit ”, for example, continued its activity even after a drug seizure in April 2021.

Although two people, Erjon Peti and Klajdi Xibrau, were arrested and removed from the company, it continued with a new administrator, Shyqyri Xibrau.

A similar pattern occurred with “ Zico Sha ”, also known as “ Bana King LLC ”, involved in a seizure in November 2022.

Albanian companies involved in drug trafficking:

INVESTIGATION/ The NAMES of Albanian BUSINESSMEN who are hiding behind companies

Its shareholder, Trifon Murataj, was removed from the registers, but returned a few months later, while the company resumed importing bananas from Ecuador and continued trading in frozen meat from Brazil.

With the exception of one company, all Albanian firms that had regular banana trade between Ecuador and Albania since 2022 have been linked to shipments contaminated with cocaine.

A model of " business recycling " has even been discovered , where problematic administrators and shareholders were temporarily replaced, only to be returned once public attention faded.

"The figure of Trifon Murataj is particularly representative. This businessman, linked to Bana King LLC in the US and Zico Sha in Albania, has been the subject of an arrest warrant in his country following the seizure of cocaine in a container coming from Puerto Bolívar, Ecuador," the Ecuadorian media report states.

However, as C4ADS points out, Murataj appeared again in company records in August 2023 and is also suspected of operating from New Jersey, where he owns other properties and businesses, including Vision 22 LLC.

His activity points to a network that combines apparent legality, international standing, and global logistical trade all within the same system.

One of the most well-documented cases is that of Dritan Rexhepi. An Albanian national, he escaped from prisons in Albania, the Netherlands, and Belgium before settling in Ecuador in 2012.

He was arrested for cocaine trafficking in 2014, but from prison in Latacunga, he managed to build relationships with Ecuadorian groups like “ Los Choneros ”.

From his cell, he led international operations until he was placed under house arrest in 2021, from which he later escaped.

"Infobae" followed Rexhepi's case and discovered how he escaped Ecuadorian authorities and forged signatures to avoid being declared a fugitive.

These revelations led, in April 2023, the murdered former deputy and presidential candidate, Fernando Villavicencio, to request information from prison services and publicly denounce the illegalities committed by the Albanian.

This led to Rexhepi being officially declared a fugitive and the issuance of an Interpol wanted list; he was recaptured in Turkey in 2023.

Another key actor in the consolidation of Albanian criminal networks in Ecuador is Dritan Gjika.

According to the GI-TOC report, he ran a structure that brought up to four tons of cocaine each month from Colombia through Ecuador, destined for Europe.

Gjika operated under the cover of at least twelve legal companies linked to the real estate and fruit sectors, created together with Ecuadorian Rubén Cherres, who was killed in 2023./ Infobae


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