The Sun: "Cocaine King", Dritan Rexhepi extradited from Turkey to Albania after 27 years on the run

"Cocaine King" Dritan Rexhepi extradited from Turkey to Albania after 27 years on the run
Dritan Rexhepi, known as the "Cocaine King" and one of the most wanted drug traffickers internationally, was extradited to Albania from Turkey two days ago, after 27 years on the run. Rexhepi, wanted in four countries, is accused of drug trafficking from South America to Europe and his links to organized crime, including murder and violence against rivals.

The British media outlet " The Sun " reported on the incident, comparing Rexhepi to El Chapo, the Mexican drug lord. According to "The Sun", Rexhepi is suspected of having ordered the revenge killing of the brother of a man suspected of stealing a 20 million pound cocaine haul in England that belonged to him.

THE SUN'S FULL ARTICLE:

A former law student who supplied the UK with Class A drugs and killed two police officers has been extradited to Albania. Notorious gangster Dritan Rexhepi, known as the “Cocaine King”, had been on the run for 27 years and was wanted in four countries.

Rexhepi, 45, largely stayed one step ahead of the law and managed to evade capture and prison for many of his crimes across Europe. He became famous for his prison escapes, boasting more than Mexican drug lord Joaquin Guzman Loera, better known as El Chapo. The 45-year-old is also suspected of ordering the ruthless revenge killing of the brother of a man suspected of stealing a £20m cocaine shipment from England that belonged to Rexhepi.

“Drug kingpin” Rexhepi appeared on a most wanted list issued by Scotland Yard in 2013. He was believed to be hiding in the UK. But the Albanian government beat Italy, Belgium and Britain to capture Rexhepi, who has now been extradited from Turkey. He is accused of murder, overseeing the kidnapping and execution of another Albanian, illegal possession of weapons and ammunition and drug trafficking.

Rexhepi's connections to the underworld began in the 1990s, when he was still a teenager. He was suspected of working as a hitman and was convicted of killing two police officers in 1998, but only now, 27 years later, has he been caught by Albanian police. In 2005, Rexhepi appeared to try to turn his life around by enrolling in law school.

However, just a year later, the suspected assassin was arrested while in a luxury hotel in Tirana with an unlicensed pistol and arrested by police in Durrës. But that evening, Rexhepi staged the first of three spectacular escapes by picking a faulty lock in the interrogation room with his finger.

In 2013, he was convicted in absentia by a Tirana court for the 1998 murders of police officers Arben Keqi and Durim Kasmi. Rexhepi claimed he was forced into drug trafficking by Albania's "rotten and unjust" justice system, which he said wrongly accused him of murder. He found that because he was a wanted man, the drug trade was his only "chance to do something else" with his life. The gangster went on to rival Mexico's most powerful cartels, while creating a vast cocaine trafficking network that connected Colombia to the ports of Ecuador and the roads of Europe.

Known as the "undisputed boss" of the Kompania Bello criminal gang, Rexhepi oversaw the operation, consisting of 14 Albanian criminal organizations, from Ecuador.

The Bello company went on to be called one of the world's "cocaine highways," controlling the entire supply chain in the country. When Rexhepi was arrested in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, in 2014, he continued to run the empire from his cell. In 2008, he was arrested in the Netherlands and extradited to Italy to face charges of cocaine trafficking. Rexhepi and two other prisoners hatched a plot to escape, and in 2011, they cut through the bars of his cell and used red sheets as rope to reach the ground before escaping.

The master escapee was captured later that year in Spain and extradited to Belgium, where he was wanted for a number of serious crimes. But prison guards again failed to keep him locked up and he managed to escape from the Antwerp prison by climbing over the wall. The prison where Rexhepi was held is one of the oldest in Belgium and is not considered suitable for serious criminals. In a report after his escape, the Ministry of Justice said: “There are only two guards for 120 people, so the possibility of escape is very high.”

Rexhepi then set his sights on the UK again and upon arrival, Scotland Yard published his photo and named him one of the 17 most dangerous foreigners in its land. Police in the UK failed to track down the gangster before he went to Ecuador and became involved in drug trafficking. In June 2014, under a different identity and appearance, Rexhepi, called Gramoz, was arrested in Quito. He remained unidentified for more than a month before fingerprints revealed who he was. While in prison, Rexhepi had a mobile phone with which he continued to send Cesar Emilio Montenegro Castillo’s drugs to Europe.

It saw the beginning of the infamous Bello Company network, made up entirely of Albanian criminal organizations based in Europe. For the first time, Albanian drug traffickers did not have to rely on the European representatives of South American cartels or Italian mafias. Drugs were shipped to Europe, entering through the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam, while the money was laundered through the Chinese fei ch'ien system.

Members communicated using encrypted services and held frequent meetings to devise new methods of transportation, avoiding the watchful eye of the police. Each member had to accept the implementation of certain rules, including revenge against the family in case of betrayal. Gang leaders engaged in recruiting new soldiers among Albanians abroad, especially in the Netherlands and Italy.

DRUG GANG DESTROYED

From behind bars, Rexhepi is accused of overseeing the kidnapping and brutal execution of another Albanian, Jan Prenga, in December 2019. The kidnapping was suspected of being linked to the disappearance of a large quantity of cocaine in England. In September 2019, a cargo ship carrying bananas set sail for the UK from the Ecuadorian port of Guayaquil. But in addition to the fruit, it was carrying a container filled with cocaine worth £20 million. After it disappeared, Rexhepi accused rival Albanian gangster Ndrek Prenga, who was in the UK, of stealing it. In revenge, Rexhepi is suspected of ordering a hit on his brother Jan, who disappeared shortly afterwards.

But in 2020, the Bello Company was cracked and dismantled by Europol thanks to the cooperation of 10 different countries. Rexhepi was still in prison, but was released in 2021 and banned from leaving Ecuador. He disappeared to Turkey and went off the radar for more than two years. In November 2023, he was arrested at a rented villa in Istanbul and extradition proceedings began. More than a year later, he has returned to Albania, where he could face a long prison sentence for his crimes.