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| Dritan Gjika and a box of dollars (montage) |
In a major anti-drug operation conducted in Ecuador and Spain, 29 individuals have been arrested for drug trafficking and money laundering, with assets totaling at least $30 million confiscated.
According to media reports, those arrested are linked to a criminal organization involved in drug trafficking, allegedly led by an Albanian named Dritan Gjika.
Dritan Gjika is said to be connected to the Ecuadorian businessman Rubén Cherres, who was executed in April 2023 and was considered one of the kingpins of cocaine in the region.
In February 2023, Ecuadorian media uncovered the scheme orchestrated by the Albanian gang, led by Dritan Gjika, in collaboration with Rubén Cherres, and how they had influenced to secure high-ranking positions in the ministry.
Ecuadorian media reported that Cherres and Gjika had established 13 companies, mostly in construction and real estate, eight of which were created in a single day. Meanwhile, Cherres was found to be a friend of Danilo Carrera, the brother-in-law of President Lasso.
In 2014, Gjika began his business activities. One of his early ventures in Ecuador was the acquisition of shares in Cresmark, an exporter of various agricultural products such as bananas. In that company, another shareholder was the Albanian Erjon Spahiu, who sold his shares to Gjika on January 28, 2022.
However, one of the companies with significant activity was Agricomtrade.
In 2018, Gjika was found to have purchased shares in that company, engaged in wholesale banana trade. Impex Fruit Five Hundred Six Sociedad Anónima, a company established in Costa Rica, whose representatives were hit by the Odebrecht scandals, sold its shares in Agricomtrade to the Albanian.