“King of Cocaine”, as Albanian drug lord Dritan Rexhepi is known, operates from a prison in Ecuador.  

A recent report published by the British media outlet The Economist , assures that Rexhepi "is the successful model of the Balkan criminal emissary of cocaine in Latin America", since he is the leader of a sophisticated structure for drug trafficking from South America to Europe that even bribed authorities, since 2014 when he was arrested. 

Rexhepi is serving a 13-year prison sentence for drug trafficking. He was sentenced on April 10, 2015, although the authorities arrested him in 2014 in an operation called Balkans. 

Rexhepi was arrested in Quito, in that operation that resulted in the seizure of 278 kilograms of cocaine. The Albanian entered Ecuador with two false identities and changed his image, so the country's authorities had to opt for fingerprint identification and discovered that it was Rexhepi, who was already wanted by Europol . 

There are currently two extradition requests against Rexhepi, one from Albania and the other from Italy , however, one of them will become effective when he finishes his sentence in Ecuador. The Albanian is also wanted in Belgium and has recently been accused of ordering and organizing, from his cell, the kidnapping of a 49-year-old man in central Albania in February 2020. The victim was never found and is presumed dead . 

Italian authorities also accuse Rexhepi of ordering at least two other murders while in prison, in Ecuador and Albania. The Albanian has denied his involvement in these crimes. 

The Albanian capo was imprisoned in a Guayaquil prison, but since 2017 he has been in the Latacunga prison , where one of the most recent massacres took place that ended with the murder of 16 people, including Leandro " el boss " Norero , another drug trafficker. . 

According to Balkan Insight , Rexhepi is the leader of a transnational crime federation of Albanian drug traffickers that has funneled hundreds of millions of euros worth of cocaine from South America to Europe.  

Rexhepi's operations, since 2014 during the government of Rafael Correa , would have continued from prison because he has had access to a cell phone , although the authorities have denied that the capo has mobile devices in his cell. 

However, hundreds of prohibited objects enter Ecuador's prisons, from cell phones, cash and even ammunition and high-caliber weapons. 

In 2020, an operation in Europe and the Middle East allowed the capture of 20 suspects linked to the Albanian cartel Kompania Bello, led by Dritan Rexhepi. 

Rexhepi has been linked to the Albanian cartel Kompania Bello . In September 2020, as reported by European authorities, various operations in Europe and the Middle East led to the arrest of 20 suspects. According to Europol, Kompania Bello controlled the entire drug import chain. 

Balkan Insight had access to several Italian court documents that identified Rexhepi, now 41 years old, as “ the undisputed kingpin ” of Kompania Bello, with access to “ infinite amounts of cocaine ”. 

Kompania Bello is a cartel made up of 14 Albanian criminal gangs involved in drug trafficking and, according to authorities, has been operating since 2014 in Ecuador , the Netherlands , Belgium , Albania and Italy , as published in November 2021 by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) . . 

The objective of this mafia, according to Italian prosecutors, "was to extend control over international drug trafficking and exponentially increase the profits of the federated members." 

Counternarcotics workers fumigate a coca plantation in Tumaco, Colombia. This country is one of the most important producers of cocaine in the world. 

The cartel would have taken advantage of its privileged relationship with South American cocaine producers. According to several reports from the United Nations and the United States Department of Defense, it is known that Colombia and Peru, both bordering Ecuador, are the largest producers of cocaine in the region. 

That relationship allowed the members of Kompania Bello to export large quantities of drugs from South America to Dutch and Belgian ports. 

According to the WSJ , Rexhepi obtained the cocaine from Colombia through a fellow prisoner. The Albanian used a hidden cell phone and organized million-dollar shipments in containers that arrived at various ports in the Netherlands. With the profits from the traffic, he ordered attacks against his opponents. 

The ports of Ecuador have become key points for the shipment of drug-contaminated containers to Europe and the United States.  

In addition to his criminal history, Rexhepi is known for his escapes. He has even escaped from prison more times than the Mexican drug lord Joaquín Guzmán Loer a, better known as El Chapo Guzmán . 

According to various information portals, the arrival of Albanians in Ecuador dates back to the early 2010s . Most of them live in Guayaquil under false identities to avoid persecution in Albania.  

The Albanians and the Balkan mafia are believed to have gained influence in the international drug trade. This coincides with an investigation carried out by the digital media Plan V of Ecuador, which in 2019 already revealed the operation of the Albanian mafia in the country. 

All this happened during the mandate of Rafael Correa, who governed Ecuador between 2007 and 2017. 

According to the journalistic investigation, the Albanian criminal groups arrived in the country between 2014 and 2015. They were attracted by the opportunity to establish direct contacts with the cartels of Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela, among others. In addition, Ecuador has been considered a vulnerable country plagued by corruption, which allows members of these mafias to buy fraudulent documents, such as identity cards and passports. 

An investigation by the same outlet revealed that between 2017 and 2019, with Lenín Moreno in power, 56 Albanians linked to illicit activities entered Ecuador using facades to stay in the country. Some said they came for tourism, business or to reside. 

The influence of the Albanian mafia in Latin America is seen in the increase in shipments to Durres , a port city in western Albania , where more than a ton of coaine hidden in banana boxes has been seized. The drug that leaves from Guayaquil , according to information from the authorities, is usually hidden in containers. 

The Albanian mafia gains control of drug shipment routes at the same time that in Guayaquil there is a struggle between criminal gangs seeking to work with Albanian gangsters. Local gangs fight for supremacy to work with Albanians and take their share of the lucrative illegal business, according to a recent investigation by the English media The Telegraph . 

Last week a series of attacks took place in Guayaquil, Santo Domingo, Durán and Esmeraldas. With this pitched battle, Guayaquil has become one of the 50 most dangerous cities in the world. 

According to the British media, the Albanians need the Ecuadorian gangs to help them transport the cocaine and provide them with security. Ecuadorian intelligence sources who spoke to The Telegraph said that "Albanians cooperate with various gangs at different points in the supply chain, but those with the most territory, the most weapons and the most control become the preferred partners." 

Even Albanian gangsters co-opt children to learn to be hit men. They promise that the best gunmen will travel to Europe. The minors, who start in the criminal world from the age of 10, are trained in the courts of the poor neighborhoods of Guayaquil, the Infobae wrote.