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E-TJERA

Cocaine among bananas/ Ecuadorian media exposes the Albanian network: From Rexhepi to Murataj

Politiko 2025-06-27 16:49:27

Cocaine among bananas/ Ecuadorian media exposes the Albanian network: From

An investigation published by Ecuadorian media outlet Infobae.com, based on a report by the American research organization C4ADS, sheds light on a sophisticated network of Albanian companies that have used the import of bananas from Ecuador to traffic drugs to Europe, including Albania.

According to the report, six Albanian companies have been involved in drug seizures since 2014. Among them is “ Masabi Fruit ”, which continued its activity even after a cocaine seizure in April 2021, changing the administrator but not the modus operandi. Names such as Erjon Peti and Klajdi Xibrau were arrested, but the company continued its activity under the leadership of Shyqyri Xibraj.

A similar case is that of the company " Zico Sha ", also known as " Bana King LLC ", which was involved in a drug seizure in November 2022. Shareholder Trifon Murataj was temporarily removed from official records, but was later reinstated, while the company resumed banana imports and trade in frozen meat from Brazil.

According to C4ADS, all but one Albanian firm that imported bananas from Ecuador in recent years has been linked to cocaine-tainted shipments. A recurring pattern involves the “recycling” of administrators: removed from official records due to investigations and then reinstated once public attention has subsided.

Trifon Murataj, a key figure in these schemes, was the subject of an arrest warrant following a cocaine shipment from Puerto Bolívar. Although temporarily suspended from activities, he appears to be active again from New Jersey in the US, where he owns companies and properties, including “Vision 22 LLC.”

The report also mentions other names involved in Albanian trafficking networks in Ecuador. One of them is Dritan Rexhepi, who escaped from prisons in several European countries and was arrested in Ecuador in 2014 for drug trafficking. Even from prison, he continued to run criminal operations, until he was placed under house arrest in 2021, from which he escaped. He was officially declared a fugitive in 2023 and was captured in Turkey that same year.

Another key figure is Dritan Gjika, who, according to the GI-TOC report, ran a structure that shipped up to four tons of cocaine each month from Colombia via Ecuador to Europe. He operated through legal companies, especially in the real estate and fruit sectors, in collaboration with the Ecuadorian Rubén Cherres , who was killed in 2023.

The revelations shed light on an international network that uses legal trade as a cover for criminal activity, while Albanian authorities have not yet officially reacted to these accusations.