FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
An Albanian cocaine criminal based in Ecuador and arrested last week in the United Arab Emirates is accused of using the United Arab Emirates as a hub for laundering drug money, according to court documents obtained by OCCRP.
The documents are part of an investigation in Ecuador, where Dritan Gjika is accused of running a powerful drug trafficking organization. The 48-year-old was arrested on May 26 in the city of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates on an arrest warrant from Ecuador.
In February, the State Attorney General's Office called Gjika "the leader of Albanian mafia operations in Ecuador." Court documents obtained by OCCRP reveal details of the group's operations, both in Ecuador and the United Arab Emirates.
Ecuadorian prosecutors accuse Gjika and his associates of using several companies to transport drugs from the South American country to Europe, hidden in shipments of bananas. To launder the illicit profits, they are suspected of relying on companies in the United Arab Emirates, as well as Spain.
The documents show that the evidence gathered by police and prosecutors was strong enough to convince a judge to authorize an international arrest warrant for Gjika's arrest so that he could be brought to trial in Ecuador.
Gjika's lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.
The document also mentions another intercepted communication between Gjika and someone working with a company in Dubai. They were discussing the need to move large sums of money using intermediaries.
“Keep the transfers below 50,000 so that we don’t alarm the authorities ,” Gjika was quoted as saying. However, the authorities began to get suspicious.
"Transactions in these accounts include irregular deposits, most of them in cash, which have raised alarms with financial authorities," the document says.
" In addition, numerous transfers to international accounts were discovered, prompting even greater scrutiny," the document also states.
Ecuador's National Police said in a statement on May 26 that it is following the extradition process from the United Arab Emirates and that Spanish law enforcement participated in Gjika's arrest.
The National Police also stated that Gjika had arrived in Ecuador in 2009 on a temporary visitor visa, but then became "one of the most wanted people in the country," leading a group that trafficked drugs to Central America, Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium.
An Ecuadorian court convicted eight members of the criminal group in January on charges of "laundering criminal proceeds from drug trafficking."/ OCCRP
Lini një Përgjigje