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An Albanian becomes the successor of drug boss Dritan Rexhepi in Ecuador and his right-hand man who eliminated rival Albanian groups

2025-03-07 21:55:23Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
An Albanian becomes the successor of drug boss Dritan Rexhepi in Ecuador and his
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The alliance between Dritan Rexhepi, the founder of "Bello Company", and the Italian mafia has kept a powerful structure for cocaine trafficking from Ecuador to European countries afloat for about 15 years.

But even after the arrest in Turkey of the 45-year-old originally from Vlora, who broke into prisons and was then extradited to Albania, his successor was another Albanian: Dritan Gjika.

According to Ecuadorian intelligence reports, cited by Ecuadorian media , he and Rexhepi resided in the same exclusive area in Samborondón, one of the wealthiest neighborhoods of the port city, Guayaquil.

Successor Dritan Gjika

Internationally wanted in Ecuador and by the Special Prosecution Office in Albania, Dritan Gjika built a powerful economic and political network, creating a strong structure for drug trafficking and money laundering.

An Albanian becomes the successor of drug boss Dritan Rexhepi in Ecuador and his
Dritan Gjika, Dritan Rexhepi's successor in international drug trafficking

According to Venezuelan media, Gjika owned numerous restaurants and businesses in Guayaquil, which he also used for drug smuggling.

He used a group of ten companies – six in Ecuador and four in Spain, including cannabis factories and banana plantations.

In 2023, his name came to light due to his links to Ruben Cherrez (assassinated in November of that year) and Danilo Carrera, brother-in-law of former Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso. Carrera was convicted of organized crime as part of a network of illegal contracts in the energy sector.

Right wing, Remzi Azemi

Realizing that he had been exposed, Gjika fled Ecuador. At the same time, another key figure of the “Bello Company” was in Colombia, Kosovar Remzi Azemi, who had been arrested with Rexhepi in Ecuador in 2014, but was released three months later.

 

An Albanian becomes the successor of drug boss Dritan Rexhepi in Ecuador and his
Remzi Azemi and his armored vehicle, where he escaped an assassination attempt in Ecuador

He took over the coordination of cocaine shipments from Guayaquil and became Rexhepi's right-hand man, although he was arrested in North Macedonia in December 2023.

Azemi also ordered the execution of other Albanians who were trying to create independent groups to export cocaine from Guayaquil, without the approval of the "Bello Company", including Ilir Hidri.

According to European intelligence, Azemi was temporarily using an armored vehicle with license plate GSU-2041, registered in the name of Katrin Paola Ospino Fernández, Rexhepi's partner.

Ospino Fernández was a shareholder and president of the company Worldclass Ecuador, which dealt with tourism, until July 2021, when Rexhepi had already fled to Colombia.

Dritan Rexhepi's "Legal Escape"

In 2014, in a large international operation against drug trafficking, Dritan Rexhepi was also arrested in Ecuador. After a year in Guayaquil, the Albanian was transferred to Cotopaxi prison.

An Albanian becomes the successor of drug boss Dritan Rexhepi in Ecuador and his
Dritan Rexhepi during a court hearing, while his drug trafficking trial was taking place in Guayaquil

Until then, the prison system was largely controlled by gangs subordinate to the most powerful, the infamous group, Los Choneros.

This was the ideal context for Rexhepi to continue to promote his business from his cell, with all the conveniences.

In Cotopaxi, he became friends with Jorge Zambrano JR, Rasquiña, Fito and Junior, leaders of Los Choneros, who worked for the Mexican cartel, Sinaloa.

This was the beginning of strategic partnerships between the “Compañía Bello”, led by Rexhepi, and local gangs.

Their objective was simple: to sell as much cocaine as possible at a huge profit for all partners in the deal, with a clear transnational perspective, something never seen before.

But after a few years, Rexhepi manages to get out of prison, benefiting from a "house arrest" with dubious legal procedures, which then turns into a "compulsion to appear".

He escapes from Ecuador and goes to Colombia, where he opens several shell companies to hide his drug trafficking activity.

An Albanian becomes the successor of drug boss Dritan Rexhepi in Ecuador and his
Dritan Rexhepi, founder of "Bello Company" before his extradition from Turkey to Albania

Dritan Rexhepi's vision

While trying to strengthen networks and support structures in Turkey, Rexhepi was arrested in Istanbul in November 2023. Two years earlier, seizures of cocaine trafficked from Ecuador to that country had increased by 40%, according to European anti-drug reports.

A visionary for large-scale criminal expansion, Rexhepi was based in Turkey, with a Colombian passport, under the identity of Benjamín Omar Pérez García.

He planned to turn that country into a crucial corridor for drug transportation eastward, towards Russia and China.

His ambitious plan failed when he was arrested on extradition requests from Italy and Albania. He was extradited to Tirana in January of this year, where he is serving sentences for various crimes, including the charge of ordering the kidnapping and disappearance of Jan Prenga.

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