The members of the Albanian mafia had allegedly planned to assassinate businessman Ruben Cherres, who was found dead on March 31, 2023. Cherres was known as an associate of the Albanian criminal group involved in drug trafficking in Latin America.
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| Portrait of Ruben Cherres (Archive) |
This information surfaced in an article by "El Universo," which published a conversation revealed from the "Encuentro" dossier, involving individuals suspected to be part of local criminal groups. The conversation suggests that Cherres was targeted by the Albanians because he had failed to repay a debt of millions of dollars.
One of the transcripts from the Encuentro dossier, made public by the Prosecutor's Office, contains a conversation mentioning the alleged plans against Cherres due to his indebtedness to the Albanians.
"In January 2023, a person identified as VM3 stated: 'Today, the priest Saavedra approached me and told me, 'You know I have some friends everywhere and they called me asking if we are going against the Albanians. I just said, 'No, what are you talking about!' It's better not to be against them; the Albanians want to kill Ruben Cherres because he received an invoice, I tell him, are you sure if someone asked for money, a few million dollars, he couldn't pay those millions and they want to kill him.'"
Another conversation between two interlocutors alleges Cherres' involvement with an Albanian.
"VM3: Godfather, take a serious look at what can be done.
VM1: I won't get involved.
VM3: I'm not saying get involved, but let's talk to someone.
VM1: No, no, I haven't flipped the day these guys defended dangerous people, buddy, you know about Tonny, not about your health...
VM3: Who?
VM1: The Albanian, he's Cherres' partner."
In another conversation, they highlight the suspected connections between the Albanians and another accused individual, Leonardo Cortázar.
"VM1: The problem now is the kidnapping of Antonio and the bullets towards his house. That was Cortázar with the Albanians.
VM2: That's not what I'm saying.
VM1: Because Cortázar is already with the Albanians, so he became dangerous like Salcedo, but once in prison, he became a bad boy."
According to the Ecuadorian Prosecutor's Office, Ruben Cherres and Danilo Carrera, the brother-in-law of former President Guillermo Lasso, were the leaders of a criminal organization that unlawfully benefited from three public institutions: the National Electricity Corporation (CNEL), the Customs Service (Senae), and BanEcuador. The legal process against the suspected criminal structure began in the final months of 2023. Meanwhile, in March 2023, Cherres was found dead in his vacation home in Saint Helena, along with his girlfriend, a friend, and a security guard.