TIRANA, Jan. 16, 2024 – Ecuador’s war on organized crime has made headlines across the world recently as the country’s president declared an internal state of war following armed clashes, unleashing the army to take on powerful gangs.
The violence has been building for a long time as the Latin American nation has found itself grappling with the complex dynamics of fighting brazen organized crime and governmental measures in the face of escalating violence and drug trafficking.
But although it seems a world away, experts at the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) have long warned that Western Balkans criminal groups are contributing to drug-related violence in Ecuador, with Western Europe-based Albanian groups being key players.
“As the escalation of violence in Ecuador, fueled by the empowerment of organized crime, reaches unprecedented levels, little is known about the role of Balkan criminal groups in perpetuating it,” Fatjona Mejdini, director of the Southeastern Europe Observatory at GI-TOC, wrote on X (formerly Twitter), pointing out to an analysis GI-TOC had conducted last year to the issue.
GI-TOC notes that among foreign actors in Ecuador, there is a notable presence of criminal groups from the Western Balkans operating in Ecuador, with prominent Albanian elements residing there, albeit trying to maintain a relatively discrete profile.
However, their low-visibility efforts have been hampered by their engagement in a series of violent incidents. Over the past five years, Ecuador has witnessed the deaths of five Balkan nationals – three Albanians, one Serb, and one Montenegrin – and an injury to a citizen of Kosovo. These incidents are believed to be connected to the complex web of cocaine trafficking, sparking disputes among foreign actors and tensions with local criminal factions.
Most notably, one of Europe’s most wanted men and an internationally notorious drug kingpin, Dritan Rexhepi, escaped arrest in Ecuador, where he was living, to hide in Istanbul, where he was arrested by Turkish police late last year. Albania, where Rexhepi has been convicted of murder in absentia, is now competing with Italy and Ecuador for his extradition.
Several reports point out the Albanian groups based in Western Europe being in charge of drug trafficking from Ecuador to Europe, primarily via EU ports, with Albania itself being connected as a place of laundering the receipts of the profits. The Albanian connection has not escaped the attention of international media recently — with articles ranging from The Economist and The New York Times to the Washington Examiner — pointing to links between the escalation of violence in Ecuador to Albanian gangs.
Before the topic garnered so much international attention, investigative journalist Artan Hoxha researched and spoke extensively about the Albanian organized crime presence in Ecuador, including visiting the Latin American country. He had told several Albanian media outlets that many of the Albanians in Ecuador are wanted men in EU countries and when faced with issues in Latin America, travel to Albania or Dubai to hide.
“Ecuador is a transit country. Drugs come from Colombia and Peru, the largest drug producers. Besides Albanians, there were also Italians, Dutch, Russians, and it’s not just Albanians,” Hoxha told an Albanian television station following a reporting trip to Ecuador back in 2022. “Albanians served as guarantors with local cartels, handling the closure of accounts and payments that needed to be made there. There were also Albanians from Kosovo. Albanians in Ecuador were involved in transferring money; they were the ones bringing money from the richest market, the EU market.”
With the escalating violence and the now high profile of the Albanian organized crime networks there, Ecuador is now certainly likely to crack down on Albanian residents tied to crime. The country has already reimposed visas on Albanian citizens, although as Rexhepi’s case showed, criminal elements often used forged documents to travel. He had traveled to Turkey on a fake Colombian passport.
Albanian authorities say they are working to fight organized crime in cooperation with the country’s international partners.
Some experts also point out that much of the organized crime perpetrated by Albanian nationals is taking place entirely out of the country’s territory and has no ties to Albania.
However, the Albanian political opposition has accused the government of benefiting from the illicit activities, including through the use of the proceeds of crime that make their way back to Albania.
Albanian opposition parties have alleged that such funds have been used in vote-buying in elections and are hurting the Albanian economy through a false appreciation of the local currency due to a major influx of foreign currency of questionable origins into several sectors, including fueling the country’s construction boom.
Albanian authorities point out that the country has made strides to tighten rules to prevent money laundering. For example, Albania was removed from the international Financial Action Task Force’s gray list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring in October 2023.
However, continued busts of large undeclared large cash caches at Albanian border points indicate issues persist, experts say.
