FLASH
Shkruar nga Gavin Voss
From the ports of Ecuador and Brazil to European cocaine markets, Albanian and Balkan criminal networks have built alliances with Latin American cartels, becoming key players in global crime.
The recent arrest of Albanian Ervin Mata in Brazil has brought the growing presence of Balkan criminal groups in Latin America back into the spotlight. Mata, arrested on April 26 near São Paulo, is suspected of serving as a bridge between cocaine suppliers in South America and buyers in Europe on behalf of a Balkan criminal organization that coordinated drug shipments to European ports, mainly in Spain and Germany.
His case is just one episode in a much broader story that has been troubling international authorities for years. Underworld figures from Albania, Serbia and Montenegro have repeatedly appeared in investigations into drug trafficking, money laundering and corruption in Latin America, building a powerful network of cooperation with local cartels.
Unlike traditional Latin American criminal organizations, which control territories through violence and strong hierarchical structures, Balkan groups have chosen a more flexible and less visible model.
They specialize in logistics, coordination, and brokerage, becoming the link that connects cocaine producers in the Andes to the lucrative markets of Europe. Rather than building criminal “fortresses” on the ground, these networks operate through temporary alliances, family ties, and direct contacts with local producers and groups in Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, and Mexico.
It is precisely this decentralized structure that has made them more difficult for law enforcement agencies to crack down on.
Cocaine emissaries
One of the most famous figures of this model was the Albanian Dritan Rexhepi, a well-known name in European justice due to spectacular escapes from prisons in Italy and Belgium.
Rexhepi was considered a key figure in the Albanian criminal network “Kompania Bello”, an organization made up of 14 crime families with activities in Europe and Latin America. He was arrested in Ecuador in 2014 along with a shipment of cocaine.
But even from prison, he is suspected of continuing to coordinate drug shipments with Colombian and Ecuadorian criminal groups. According to European authorities, his network had established direct links with cocaine producers, bypassing traditional intermediaries and significantly increasing profits.
Although Europol declared in 2020 that the “Bello Company” had been dismantled, some of its former members continue to be mentioned in international investigations related to cocaine trafficking. Another example is the “Farruku Clan,” an Albanian criminal organization that allegedly coordinated cocaine trafficking between Ecuador and Spain.
Investigations show that the group had sent emissaries to Guayaquil to collaborate with Ecuadorian groups in exporting drugs to Europe. One of them, Ergys Dashi, was killed.
in 2022 in the Ecuadorian port city, just days after Spanish authorities seized 2 tons of cocaine linked to the organization.
Independent traffickers and front businesses
Not all Balkan members of Latin American crime operate under the orders of larger organizations. Some have built independent trafficking networks, establishing direct links to drug producers and using legitimate export companies as a cover for their criminal activities.
One of the most well-known cases is that of Albanian Dritan Gjika. Based in Ecuador, where he also obtained Ecuadorian citizenship, Gjika set up a network of export companies that traded products such as bananas, one of the country's main exports.
According to investigators, these companies were used to hide and transport cocaine to European ports. Authorities allege that Gjika had established direct relationships with Colombian producers and Ecuadorian groups that controlled the ports and drug warehouses in Guayaquil.
He was arrested in Abu Dhabi in June 2025 and currently faces extradition proceedings to Ecuador on charges related to organized crime and corruption.
The model used by Gjika was also followed by other Albanians such as Adriatik Tresa and Arber Çekaj, who set up export companies in Ecuador and are suspected of hiding cocaine in banana shipments to Europe.
Tresa was killed in Guayaquil in 2020, while Çekaj was arrested in Germany in 2018.
Money laundering experts
In addition to drug trafficking, Balkan groups have also become important actors in international money laundering. Through front companies, real estate investments, casinos, restaurants and luxury businesses, they have built sophisticated mechanisms for legalizing the profits generated by cocaine.
According to Ecuadorian prosecutors, Dritan Gjika's network is suspected of laundering more than $31 million through Ecuador's financial system between 2015 and 2024. In another major operation, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on 27 individuals and companies linked to the Albanian Hysa family, accused of running a money laundering scheme in collaboration with the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico.
According to US authorities, the network used casinos and luxury restaurants in several Mexican states to legalize drug profits. Serbian citizen Jezdimir Srdan was also implicated in important financial investigations.
After securing a controversial early release from prison in Ecuador in 2018 on drug trafficking charges, he was arrested again in 2024 and sentenced to 10 years in prison for money laundering./ Adapted from "Pamphlet" by "Insight Crime"
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