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Spain "flooded" by drugs, "El Pais": Albanians bought large banana and fruit export companies!

2024-03-16 09:08:26Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

Spain "flooded" by drugs, "El Pais": Albanians bought large

Last year, cocaine seizures in Spain broke all historical records. 

Sources from the National Police and the Civil Guard, the bodies responsible for the fight against drug trafficking, reported that they have seized 100,000 kilograms, more than double what was seized in 2022, writes El Pais.

The Spanish Ministry of the Interior has not yet published official reports regarding this period of time, but Spain is already the largest producer of cannabis in the EU as it is flooded with cocaine, like all of Europe.

The consequences of the drug boom are beginning to be seen very clearly in countries such as Sweden, where the government put police on the streets last September to stem a wave of murders linked to gang rivalries. 

A few weeks ago, two shootings in the center of Brussels left a man dead and a woman injured, only because she accidentally collided with the speeding car of some suspected drug traffickers.

Meanwhile, on February 9 in the Spanish city of Barbate, the driver of a drug-laden boat known as El Cabra (The Goat) rammed a Civil Guard vessel, killing 2 agents and injuring 4 others.

Whether from local police reports or from international organizations such as the United Nations, which are facing this social scourge, which is threatening the stability of states, they have made their message clear: " Drug trafficking is stronger than ever first, and that there is a record amount in circulation ".

Or as the Spanish anti-drug prosecutor, Rosana Morán, stated in her 2023 report on the entire presence of narcotics, which stated that there are drugs everywhere and for everyone.

"Everywhere, everything, for everyone".

To search for the reasons for this large amount of drugs entering Europe, but also what has led to the creation of new and more violent criminal groups, it is necessary to look at what happens on the other side of the Atlantic.

Because that is where the maritime routes generally start, through which tons of cocaine are trafficked. Today, one of the hottest hotbeds for drug trafficking on a global scale is Ecuador, a country currently experiencing a serious security crisis.

On March 31, 2023, dozens of armed men entered the luxurious residence of Ecuadorian businessman Rubén Cherres in Santa Elena (in Western Ecuador).

They tortured him and finally killed him, along with his girlfriend, among them a friend and his bodyguard.

At the time, Cherres was the target of an investigation by the Ecuadorian Prosecutor's Office, which linked him to the brother-in-law of the then president of the country, Guillermo Lasso, and to Albanian drug trafficking groups operating in this Latin American country. since 2009.

"Albanians saw a great opportunity to do business. "Instead of fighting the cartels in the traditional coca leaf producing countries (Colombia, Bolivia and Peru), they chose to buy the drug directly from them and send it to Europe from the nearest port of Guayaquil ," says Antonio Martínez Duarte, head of the Drug and Organized Crime Unit of the Spanish National Police (UDYCO).

"They bought large banana and fruit export companies as a front to transport tons of cocaine across Europe,"   he adds.

Spain, and especially the cities of Valencia, Barcelona and Algeciras, where the members of the so-called Balkan Clan are based, is currently one of the main gateways for the entry of drugs into Europe.

"In Europe, Antwerp in Belgium and Rotterdam in the Netherlands are the 2 main ports from where cocaine arrives from Latin America. "Valencia is ranked in third place,"   emphasizes Morán.

During a year in this role, Morán has promoted international cooperation, which is essential when it comes to the fight against these transnational crimes.

Given the burden these cases create on the normal courts of small towns, Morán has called for the creation of specialized courts in the provinces and the expansion of the powers of the National Court.

This will allow him to take on larger issues that have complex consequences.

The number of people arrested for drug trafficking charges has been ever increasing in Spain: 18,193 in 2018; 20,441 in 2019; 20,599 in 2020 (the peak year of the coronavirus pandemic); 22,968 in 2021 and 24,117 in 2022, according to the latest data provided by the Ministry of the Interior.

Two weeks ago, police dealt another blow to the Albanian mafia based in Valencia, with 17 arrests and the seizure of 850 kilograms of cocaine.

In 2023, nearly 9,000 kilograms were seized in the port of Valencia by members of groups consisting mainly of Albanians. All the cocaine in the latest seizure came from Ecuador.

Two weeks ago - almost a year after those murders in Santa Elena - the Spanish National Police carried out Operation Pampa, along with their Ecuadorian counterparts. A total of 32 people were arrested: 13 in Spain, 18 in Ecuador and 1 in Great Britain.

At the moment, Ecuador requires visas for Albanian citizens, while most of the country lives under curfew due to the high level of criminality.

This follows the broad daylight assassination of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, who was shot dead on August 11, 2023, and the assassination of anti-corruption prosecutor César Suarez on January 17 of this year.

Among those arrested in the latest operation was a "high value target" named Dritan Gjika, an Albanian citizen.

Gjika's main business partner (wanted), was an Italian-Argentine citizen residing in Marbella, Spain.

He allegedly imported bananas from Ecuador in addition to 4,000 kilograms of cocaine per month. The value of what was seized in the 22 checks carried out in Spain is impressive: 500 thousand euros in cash, an automatic pistol and 12 luxury cars.

Also, 17 properties worth about 12 million euros were seized.

The latest report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) spoke of a record production of pure cocaine in 2020: nearly 2 million kilograms. But researchers say that in the last 3 years, this figure "has increased exponentially".

According to experts, the continued cultivation of coca plants in Colombia and elsewhere has been tolerated by governments that have proven incapable of providing better alternatives for millions of people (including farmers and workers in all kinds of service companies). hoc) has also brought this unprecedented surplus of cocaine to the market.

During the last decade, the price for 1 kilogram of cocaine in Europe has fallen from 43,000 to 32,500 dollars. And forest production continues to expand, even at the cost of Amazon deforestation with the consequent impact of climate change.

In 2020, the decryption of drug traffickers' mobile communication channels such as the Encrochat or Sky-Ecc apps revealed their activities and modus operandi.

While the big bosses of criminal organizations host their lavish business dinners everywhere from Dubai to Istanbul, they continue to use Spain's Costa del Sol "as a hideout" or "a holiday home with great opportunities for money laundering". say the experts.


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