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Ecuador buying coke

Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas, Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information, news and insight around the world. The video was truly shocking: a gang of masked gunmen assaulting the set of a news broadcast in mid-show, taking staff hostage and pointing their long barrels at reporters begging for their lives. As exceptional and terrifying as this episode might seem, it speaks to a reality that has been entrenching itself around the region, without any control or solution in sight. More than massacres were registered in Mexico in ; this year opened with a deadly episode in which narco groups allegedly used drones in an attack against locals. Even in Argentina, a relatively safe country, the new governor of Santa Fe province sent his family away after receiving death threats from criminal groups that operate in Rosario, a key corridor for drug trafficking to Europe. Bloomberg Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas, Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information, news and insight around the world. Sign In Subscribe Search. Chevron Down. US Edition. Juan Pablo Spinetto , Columnist. By Juan Pablo Spinetto. Gift Gift this article. Bookmark Save. Market Data.

Drug cartels: How cocaine and bananas fuel violence in once-peaceful Ecuador

Ecuador buying coke

Inside, they found a mother with her young daughter, along with multiple firearms and ammunition. The husband, Albanian businessman Dritan Gjika, was nowhere to be found. The raid was part of a much bigger law enforcement sweep. That night, police in Spain and Ecuador arrested 31 alleged members of an intercontinental cocaine trafficking syndicate. And while much of his network seems to have been swept up in the bust, Gjika himself remains on the lam. In fact, there are few traces of him in Albania at all. Gjika first went to Ecuador in November , when he was 33 years old. It was there that he started to build his drug trafficking empire. He was one of the first Albanian traffickers to set up shop in Ecuador, posing as a businessman. Gjika and another Albanian bought an export company called Cresmark S. Cherres was no stranger to law enforcement. In , he had been arrested on drug trafficking charges after a police raid led to the seizure of packages of cocaine. He was acquitted the next year after several influential figures provided testimonies calling for his release, including Danilo Carrera, brother-in-law of the then-future Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso. Though it is unclear exactly when Gjika allegedly began to traffic cocaine to Europe, it is clear he was in the right spot when, in neighboring Colombia, the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia — FARC signed a historic peace agreement in In , Gjika seemingly tried to grow his business. He bought shares in a second export company, Agricomtrade, which shipped bananas to different European companies. One of these — Albanian importer Alba Exotic Fruit — has been used to import cocaine in Albania, according to the Albanian public prosecutor. In total, Agricomtrade sent more than shipments to Alba Exotic Fruit. Rather than getting his hands dirty, Gjika allegedly contracted out tasks to a vast network of operatives, communicating with them primarily through Skype. Gjika allegedly worked with several coordinators who oversaw setting up companies and recruiting public officials. The organization sourced cocaine from a supplier in Colombia, who delivered four tons of the drug each month to stashing centers in Ecuador, according to reports by the Spanish police. Once the cocaine arrived in Ecuador, Ecuadorian subcontractors handled storage and transport. This way, Gjika largely avoided leaving paper trails which would link him to any drug trafficking activity. Ecuadorian lawmakers alleged that Varela started working with Gjika when she was posted at an airport in the province of Guayas. She supposedly helped Gjika by placing trusted police officers in key locations to facilitate his drug trafficking operations, they believe. Together, they had end-to-end control over a cocaine route from Colombia to Europe. As law enforcement pressure on his operations grew, Gjika seemed to adapt, changing smuggling methods when necessary. In , Dutch police seized a shipment of 1. In response, Gjika seemingly switched from using his own companies to mostly using a method known as rip-on rip-off, in which shipping containers of non-complicit third parties are opened and drugs added. Once the containers arrive at the destination port, the drugs are removed by gang members, often aided by corrupt port workers. His organization had access to port infrastructure in Ecuador and privileged shipping data, according to Ecuadorian and Spanish police. On a single day in June , Gjika and Cherres founded eight companies, most in the construction sector. Six have since come under investigation for money laundering. Varela, then the chief of police, appears to have saved them from prosecution. She took the investigators off the case in September , and reassigned them to zones across Ecuador. The case was closed months later in January , just after Varela was removed from office by then-President Lasso. In May , public prosecutor Diana Salazar revealed the existence of an investigation into Varela and two other police generals for assigning personnel and leaving criminal acts unpunished. Varela denied allegations connecting her to the criminal structure in February. InSight Crime was unable to contact her. Gjika came under increasing scrutiny in early when a flurry of media reports mentioned his name in relation to a high-level corruption scheme. On January 9, , the Ecuadorian newspaper La Posta released details surrounding a graft scheme headed by Carrera and Cherres. Lasso, meanwhile, affirmed his support for Carrera. Then, on February 13, , La Posta published the leaked police investigation that linked Cherres, and by extension, Carrera, to Gjika and his drug trafficking network. The report also provided details on the alleged relationship between Varela and Gjika and claimed that Lasso had known about the ties between Carrera, Cherres, and the Albanian drug trafficker since July The investigation into Carrera was reopened, and the possible links with Albanian drug traffickers contributed to a political scandal that culminated in an impeachment proceeding against Lasso. Villavicencio was murdered months later during his political campaign for the presidency. Gjika reportedly left Ecuador on January 9, , the same day as the first release of information by La Posta. Since then, it is unclear whether he has continued his drug trafficking operations. In March , his long-term business partner Cherres was killed. Wiretaps released in March suggest Gjika may have wanted Cherres dead over an unpaid debt. It also appears Gjika has dumped shares in several of his other companies, including Agricomtrade, onto members of his criminal organization. They are currently facing trial over drug trafficking and money laundering charges in Ecuador. In October , he founded the company Riomel Gold Corporation, dedicated to trading in precious metals. But demand for cocaine in Europe remains high , and other transatlantic networks are filling the gap in demand. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a weekly digest of the latest organized crime news and stay up-to-date on major events, trends, and criminal dynamics from across the region. Donate today to empower research and analysis about organized crime in Latin America and the Caribbean, from the ground up. Skip to content. The First Cracks As law enforcement pressure on his operations grew, Gjika seemed to adapt, changing smuggling methods when necessary. The Empire Crumbles Gjika came under increasing scrutiny in early when a flurry of media reports mentioned his name in relation to a high-level corruption scheme. Escaping the Heat Gjika reportedly left Ecuador on January 9, , the same day as the first release of information by La Posta. Stay Informed With InSight Crime Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a weekly digest of the latest organized crime news and stay up-to-date on major events, trends, and criminal dynamics from across the region.

Ecuador buying coke