FLASH NEWS
The arrest of Dritan Rexhepi, how the first Albanian cocaine cartel worked
2023-11-10 23:36:22 / AKTUALITET
In the early hours of the morning of 15 September 2021, hundreds of police officers – including teams of rapid intervention forces, with the assistance of Europol and Eurojust, carried out coordinated raids in 10 different countries in Europe and the Middle East, arresting 20 suspects, part of an Albanian criminal network known as "Kompania Bello".
According to Europol, this network was a professional criminal syndicate and is considered one of the most active cocaine trafficking organizations from South America to Europe.
"For many years, international cocaine traffickers worked separately from the wholesalers and criminal groups that distribute the drug on the street," Europol said in a press release.
"In this case, this Albanian criminal group that is under investigation overturned this model and controlled the entire chain - from the securing of large shipments from South America to its distribution in Europe," the European law enforcement agency added.
The police operation codenamed 'Los Blancos' came after a 5-year investigation led by the Florence Prosecutor's Office, supported by a joint Italian-Dutch investigative group, and is considered the most complex and long-term investigation ever undertaken against Albanian organized crime.
According to the decision of the Court of Florence on the measures of arrest and preventive seizures issued against the suspects - a copy of which has been obtained by BIRN, this criminal cartel which consisted of several Albanian organizations involved in the trafficking and distribution of cocaine, was led by Dritan Rexhepi, a 40-year-old originally from Vlora, imprisoned in Ecuador since 2014.
"Rexhepi has created an Albanian narco-trafficking cartel, his brand called "Bello", of which he is the indisputable capo, possessing infinite amounts of cocaine, which he buys directly, jointly or through his South American partners of organizations 'Narcos' present in Ecuador," it is written in the criminal proceedings of the Florence Prosecutor's Office.
"This criminal structure is able to distribute cocaine throughout Europe and in particular in Italy, and has branches throughout Europe and Albania, which answer to Rexhepi for committing serious crimes such as murder," adds the prosecution. Italian.
In addition to Rexhepi, the Italian prosecutor's office has charged 33 suspects with international drug trafficking, as well as creation and participation in criminal organizations, most of them Albanian citizens residing in the Netherlands and Italy.
Prior to Operation Los Blancos, 84 suspected members of the criminal cartel have been arrested over the past 5 years in Italy, Ecuador, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Germany.
"'Kompania Bello' is a union of criminal operators, who have clear tasks and profits separated from each other," explained an Albanian prosecutor who participated in the Los Blancos operation.
"Of course it poses a risk to public order and security in Albania, as we are dealing with a union of operators with great criminal and economic potential," added the prosecutor, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
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