Authorities have launched an investigation into an Italian businessman of Argentinian descent living in Marbella, uncovering his connections with an Albanian national in Ecuador involved in cocaine trafficking from Colombia to the EU. The duo exploited Ecuadorian fruit companies, especially banana shipments, to smuggle cocaine into Europe, with monthly imports reaching 4 tons.
Despite the organization's denials, law enforcement in Albania, Belgium, Ecuador, the Netherlands, and Turkey seized 3.2 tons of cocaine. The network, with links to the Western Balkans, laundered money through investments in legal Spanish businesses, including banana importation, sports, and commercial centres, alongside bars and restaurants.
The investigation, bolstered by Europol's support, targeted the network's leaders, identifying €48 million in financial transactions across Ecuador and Spain. Europol's Executive Director Catherine De Bolle emphasized the operation's success against the cocaine trade and the strengthening of international law enforcement cooperation, particularly between Ecuador and the EU, in combating drug cartels.
Source: albaniandailynews.com