The tentacles of the Albanian mafia are once again in the spotlight in Ecuador

The Albanian mafia has been operating for several years in countries of the region. In Andean nations such as Ecuador and Peru, Albanian citizens linked to drug trafficking have been identified.

They have regularly been linked to financial and logistical issues to generate illicit drug trafficking operations in these countries.

The Albanian mafia has been mentioned this week after the disclosure of a report by the digital media The post.

Based on police reports, this outlet established links between Rubén Cherres, close to Danilo Carrera, brother-in-law of President Guillermo Lasso, with drug trafficking and the Albanian mafia. Cherres is also pointed out for apparently influencing the appointment of positions in the Government.

The Prosecutor’s Office and a judge from Manta, however, filed an investigation into several people with an alleged link to the Albanian mafia. The file consists of 1,000 pages and will be sent to Quito.

Ecuador began to request visas to Albanian citizens since September of this year

Following that report, the portal Plan V He also disclosed the apparent links of the Albanian Dritan Gjika with Cherres. The Albanian is one of the main partners of Cherres. Gjika has an exporter that is related to an Albanian importer accused of drug trafficking.

Although not numerous, the presence of men of Albanian origin in countries where drug production and trafficking cartels operate in Latin America is not new.

Since the 2000s, members of family clans of the so-called “Albanian mafia” have traveled to the Latin American region to expand their business in Europe, according to a report last year by the BBC.

“The Albanian criminal clans are in Latin America for one reason: to buy cocaine cheaply,” he told the BBC Alessandro Ford, an investigator for InsightCrime.

Albanians have established contacts with cartels and drug trafficking groups in countries such as Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru for at least two decades.

Without the need for a command of many men and high caliber weapons, like the Latin American cartels, they have done lucrative business with the cartels of these countries.

“Their function is to be business connectors, close deals, logistical issues. But it will never be seen [en América Latina] an armed convoy of the Albanian mafia, except for guards offering protection,” he explained to BBC Víctor Sánchez, a Mexican investigator who studies organized crime.

Its power lies in the shared control with other mafias, such as the Italian one, of ports in Europe through which drugs and illegal products enter.

During the last years in Ecuador, cases have been detected in which Albanians have been involved. In fact, some have spent the night in Ecuador to continue on to Peru.

Last year, for example, two Albanian citizens were involved in a drug seizure in Peru: Malo Franc, alias Pelaoand Meta Gentjan, beards.

Albanian mafias set up schools for hitmen in Guayaquil

Both entered Peru legally, as tourists, through the border with Ecuador, but the authorities of that country were watching them during their stay in its territory.

One of the best known cases is that of Dritan Rexhepia drug trafficker who immigrated to Ecuador at the beginning of the last decade and set up a drug shipment scheme for Komania Bello.

He came to be called the “king of cocaine”. He escaped from Europe, where he was wanted by the Italian and Albanian courts, and adopted various identities, such as Edmir Kraja and Mutaraj Lulezim, among others.

In 2014 he was arrested and later sentenced to thirteen years in prison. Europol identified him as the “leader of the organization”, who has continued to lead drug trafficking to Europe even while in prison.

These days, another Dritan, but Gjika, is being targeted for his relationship with Rubén Cherres. Plan V indicates that Cherres and Gjika founded thirteen companies, mostly construction and real estate. Eight of these were created in a single day.

These firms have been observed by the Superintendency of Companies for not complying with anti-money laundering regulations. None have paid taxes, according to that portal.

The Police of the region have studied various ways used by the Albanian mafia to move the alkaloids.

One of them is the creation of front companies. The second is the opening of containers with legitimate exports and the use of cloned Customs seals so that they go unnoticed.

Another of the mechanisms is hiding in cavities of container ships or intercepting cargo at sea, and finally, tying drugs to the hulls of ships docked in ports. (YO)