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A report published in 2019 by the US State Department confirmed what had long been clear to Albanian and European investigators: Albanian criminal groups traffic drugs into Europe, obtaining them directly from Colombia, Ecuador and other Latin American countries.
But how did Albanians enter this direct supply route? How did groups from a small country in southeastern Europe become significant players in an international trafficking network?
The beginnings: The operation that exposed the first connections
It was in the early 2000s that Albanians were first linked directly to Colombian cocaine. “Operación Journey”, an international operation led by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), resulted in the arrest of more than 40 people, including Frederik Durda and Sokol Koçiu, the latter a former head of the judicial police who had also served as police chief in Vlorë.
Investigators uncovered 25 tonnes of cocaine on a trafficking route that began in Colombia and extended across 12 countries, including Albania. Witnesses told the authorities of around 68 tonnes of cocaine transported by ship between 1997 and 2000. The route was suspected of being supplied by the Medellín cartel.
The operation showed that Albanians had moved from arms trafficking, cannabis and prostitution into a more profitable business: cocaine. And this was only the beginning.
Large shipments: When Albania became a troublesome trafficking gateway
Various local gangs in Albania would long be suspected of involvement in cocaine trafficking in Europe, but their close cooperation with Latin American cartels became more visible after 2010.
- March 2011: Cocaine in palm oil
Spanish authorities detected cocaine dissolved in more than 50 barrels of palm oil, capable of yielding around 200 kg of cocaine powder once processed. The shipment, ordered from Colombia, was allowed to continue under surveillance until it reached the factory of Dhimitraq Harizaj’s company in Gjirokastër, Albania; he was arrested and sentenced to 11 years in prison.
- June 2014: Cocaine with bananas
Montenegrin authorities discovered around 250 kg of cocaine in banana containers ordered from Ecuador by a company in Fier, Albania, but the authorities could not substantiate their suspicion that its owners had ordered the drugs.
- February 2018: 613 kg of cocaine in Maminas
Colombian authorities raised the alarm over around 613 kg of cocaine hidden in banana containers ordered by Arbër Çekaj’s company in Maminas, Albania. The shipment was allowed to continue and was seized before being unloaded at the warehouses.
Çekaj and his associates were sentenced to 8–14 years in prison. The shipment is suspected to have been purchased from the notorious “Clan del Golfo”.
- May 2018: Cocaine by charter flight directly from Colombia
Spanish authorities dismantled a group suspected of being led by Albanians Julian Gjoka (Deblini) and Arjan Ndoci (Dritan Gradica), which trafficked drugs by charter flight. They seized €1.5 million in cash and one tonne of cocaine in packages marked “CR7”.
- Summer 2019: Suspicious shipments in Greece and the Gentian Malindi case
Greek authorities seized 700 kg of cocaine in several containers arriving from South America. Part of the shipment was found to be bound for Albania.
A 137-kilogram consignment was allowed to continue until individuals including Gentian Malindi tried to remove it from the port of Durrës. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison.
These cases confirmed that Albania was no longer merely a transit route, but a strategic point in cocaine trafficking.
Drug laboratories: When Albania began processing narcotics
But Albania was no longer just a transit country. Drug-processing laboratories revealed another level of Albanian groups’ involvement in the narcotics market.
- June 2014: The Laç laboratory
At a villa belonging to former police officer Gëzim Çela in Fushë-Kuqe, Albanian authorities discovered a cocaine laboratory containing 850 litres of processing chemicals and an arsenal of heavy weapons. Police arrested 11 people and issued a wanted notice for Çela, whom the media would dub the “Drug Baron”. He would be arrested in Kosovo around ten years later.
- January 2015: The Xibrakë laboratory
Acting on information from German authorities, Albanian police raided a warehouse on the road to Elbasan and discovered a drug laboratory. They seized 121 kg of cocaine and four tonnes of chemicals.
The raw material was suspected of being imported mixed with construction materials such as cement. The nine people arrested included two Latin American drug-processing specialists, Cesar Avila and Valter Moreno.
- October 2018: The Brenogë laboratory
Albanian authorities discovered a sophisticated drug laboratory in Has. According to the Special Prosecution’s account of the 18 October 2018 seizure in Brenogë, police recovered 182.5 kg of heroin.
The case raised suspicions about more than 40 people, including the group associated with Astrit and Altin Avdyli, but the investigation was limited to 18 of them, including two Turkish nationals. Admir Hoxha was considered the leader and was sentenced in absentia to 12 years in prison.
- November 2022: The Frakull laboratory
The authorities uncovered a laboratory in Fier where cocaine was imported mixed into chemical fertiliser. Among the suspected traffickers was Colombian Samir Rosales Rodriguez, described as an experienced chemist from Colombia’s Cali crime clan.
- November 2024: The Fushë-Krujë laboratory
Albanian authorities discovered a drug laboratory in Fushë-Krujë operated from a base in Tirana’s Kodra e Diellit neighbourhood. Police arrested ten people, three of them from Colombia and Venezuela: Hiwlen Ledezma Narvaez, Joze Ramon Zacarias Vasquez and Samuel Alfonso Moreno Serrano. The group is suspected of importing raw material for cocaine concealed among 48 tonnes of cattle hides.
Killings and arrests in Latin America
The growing importance of Albanian drug routes has fuelled conflicts in South America, often drawing them into shifting hostilities between local cartels.
- Dritan Rexhepi
One of the founders of the criminal organisation Kompania Bello, which is suspected of cooperating with the Italian mafia for around 15 years in trafficking cocaine from Ecuador to European countries. He is known for high-profile escapes from Albania, Belgium and Italy.
In 2014, he was arrested in Ecuador for trafficking 278 kg of cocaine, but managed to escape from there too and was arrested again in Turkey in November 2023. He was extradited to Albania in January 2025, where he faces various charges involving kidnapping, murder and drug trafficking.
- Dritan Gjika
Regarded as Rexhepi’s successor in international drug trafficking from Ecuador. Media reports describe him as having powerful economic and political contacts in Ecuador through which he secured channels for money laundering.
Resident in Ecuador since 2009, Gjika owned numerous businesses in Guayaquil that he is suspected of using for drug smuggling and money laundering. He has been internationally wanted since February 2024.
- Remzi Azemi
The Kosovo Albanian is suspected of serving as Rexhepi’s right-hand man in Kompania Bello. Resident in Guayaquil since 2009, he is suspected of coordinating cocaine shipments from Ecuador and ordering the killing of other Albanians who were trying to operate independently of Kompania Bello in the drug trade. In November 2017, he survived an assassination attempt while travelling in an armoured car.
Azemi was arrested in North Macedonia in December 2023. Ecuadorian outlet EXTRA subsequently reported that his death had been registered in Guayaquil in April 2024.
- Kreshnik Farruku (Bodlla)
The head of the so-called Farruku Clan, with strong links in Italy, Spain and Ecuador. Suspected of responsibility for several murders, robberies and the transport of at least two tonnes of cocaine to the Spanish coast. He is suspected of using ten false names to expand his connections and evade the authorities.
Arrested several times, he has also escaped from prison on several occasions. He has survived several assassination attempts, including one in Albania in 2015. He and his brother Erneo Farruku surrendered to Albanian police in January 2025.
- Ilir Hidri
Killed in Guayaquil, Ecuador, in May 2017, he was suspected of involvement in the Kompania Bello network and of having been killed on Azemi’s orders.
- Adriatik Lagji
Killed in Bogotá, Colombia, in April 2018 after living there for around 15 years. Suspected of involvement in drug trafficking and considered a victim of clashes between local cartels.
- Adriatik Tresa
Killed in Guayaquil, Ecuador, in November 2020, in a luxury villa protected by private guards. He was suspected of involvement in drug trafficking.
His killers posed as police officers conducting a raid. In 2013, he had been among the Ecuadorian authorities’ suspects in the killing of journalist Fausto Valdiviezo.
- Ergys Dashi
Killed with 20 bullets at a restaurant in Guayaquil, Ecuador, in January 2022. Local authorities had no information about him, but subsequent investigations revealed his role as an intermediary in drug trafficking and a victim of clashes between local cartels. He is suspected of having worked for the Farruku Clan and Ismail Zeneli’s group.
Trafficking flows and the reach of money laundering
Albanians involved in cocaine trafficking have built a complex money-laundering network. They invest mainly in sectors such as construction, tourism and gambling.
High-profile investigations by Albania’s Special Structure against Corruption and Organised Crime (SPAK), drawing on communications from the encrypted platforms Sky ECC and EncroChat, exposed the activities of at least seven criminal groups in Albania.
Alongside involvement in murder, kidnapping and drug trafficking, the so-called Metamorphosis case files exposed these groups’ investments in gambling, technology and cryptocurrencies, and their use of shell companies to move money.
Investigations pursued along several lines uncovered the group led by brothers Franc and Hajdar Çopja, from whom $10 million in cryptocurrency was seized in January 2025. The group is also suspected of being behind the theft of millions of euros at Rinas airport in 2019.
The group, active in cocaine trafficking in Belgium and Italy, is believed to have brought around €7.5 million in cash into Albania, investing it in apartment-block construction and the purchase of apartments and luxury villas. A further €15 million was invested in gold, while the group appears to have used a network of currency-exchange offices to hold and circulate its money.
The Çopja brothers moved abroad after clashes with the groups associated with Erion Alibej and Suel Çela. They are believed to have continued directing their drug-trafficking and money-laundering operations from Belgium and Dubai. Dubai itself is believed to have become a refuge for several leaders of Albanian criminal groups, including Eldi Dizdari, Endrit Dokle, Durim Bami and Plaurent Dervishaj, the last of whom was expelled and returned to Albania in the summer of 2024.
Although Albanian and international authorities have disrupted several trafficking networks, the business remains one of the most profitable for criminal groups. The networks are well organised, often at the forefront of technology, and connected to officials and politics, with access to ports and strategic transport routes.
The fight against cocaine trafficking is a political and economic issue as well as a policing one. Unless the roots of money laundering and corruption are addressed, the cycle will keep repeating itself.
As Albanians continue to make inroads into the Latin American cocaine market, one thing is certain: this network is far larger and more complex than it appears on the surface.
*Published in 2020 in Exit.al; updated in March 2025.
* Editorial clarification, 9 October 2026: The text corrects the names of Arbër Çekaj and Remzi Azemi, Koçiu’s former role, the drug type and quantity at the Brenogë laboratory, and the chronology of Azemi’s reported death registration. Allegations retain their suspicion framing; the original 2020 publication credit and March 2025 reporting horizon are preserved. This full translation of the Albanian article, as updated in March 2025, replaces the abridged English edition published on 21 March 2025.