Albanian authorities issue arrest warrants for alleged cocaine kingpin Dritan Gjika and nine others

Albanian prosecutors announce arrest warrant for Dritan Gjika and seizure of roughly 150 million euros in assets, in action against a suspected international cocaine trafficking and money laundering network.

Albania has seized an estimated 150 million euros in assets and issued warrants for the arrest of alleged cocaine kingpin Dritan Gjika and nine other Albanian citizens for allegedly trafficking drugs around the globe and laundering criminal proceeds in the country, local authorities said this week.

Albania’s Special Prosecution Office against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK) announced the action in a June 16 press release, which identified Gjika with the initials “D. Gj.” An Albanian law enforcement source confirmed to OCCRP partner Shteg that “D. Gj” is Gjika.

SPAK’s press statement alleged Gjika was among 10 Albanian citizens participating in an “international cocaine trafficking and laundering network” that operated in Latin America, Brazil, Belgium and the Netherlands from 2019 to 2021.

Gjika has already been arrested —- in Abu Dhabi in May 2025 — and is awaiting extradition to Ecuador, where the State Attorney General’s Office alleges he was “the leader of Albanian mafia operations.” 

Gijka’s lawyers did not reply to an OCCRP request to comment.

SPAK issued arrest warrants for the 10 Albanians and requested the Special Court of First Instance for Corruption and Organized Crime seize roughly 150 million in assets, including 266 properties, 209 bank accounts, various vehicles and boats, it said.

Gjika and the others allegedly trafficked “dozens of tons” of cocaine from Latin America to European countries and then laundered “a significant portion of the proceeds” in Albania by investing cash in real estate, construction, hospitality, and other areas, SPAK said.

One member of the alleged network had been arrested in Albania and authorities were searching for two other alleged members in the country, SPAK said. SPAK emphasized that it is cooperating with law enforcement agencies in other countries to pursue the other alleged members of the group who are believed to be outside Albania.

“Special thanks to Eurojust, Europol, the judicial authorities of Ecuador, France, Colombia, the Netherlands, the NCA [National Crime Agency] and other law enforcement agencies in Albania, for their intensive cooperation and assistance in the context of the investigations of this criminal proceeding,” the SPAK press release said.

Ecuadorian prosecutors have accused Gjika and collaborators of using several companies to ship drugs from the South American country to Europe hidden in cargoes of bananas. According to Ecuadorian court documents, they allegedly used companies in the United Arab Emirates and Spain to launder their illicit profits.

At least 17 people charged with belonging to or aiding Gjika’s alleged criminal organization have been convicted in Ecuador, 15 of whom are awaiting appeal. Ecuadorian courts have convicted four others for laundering the organization’s allegedly illicit proceeds, making transfers of more than $43 million between 2015 and 2023. 

Last month OCCRP published excerpts from Gjika’s messages to alleged co-conspirators on an encrypted platform, which were filed by Ecuadorian prosecutors as evidence in the criminal case against him and members of his alleged network. 

They depict a drug-smugging organization whose corporate-like structure and infiltration of Ecuador’s police and ports enabled it to shift large volumes of drugs and money across the Atlantic Ocean.

The South American country, where a surge in cocaine trafficking in recent years has resulted in an enormous increase in homicide rates linked to both local and transnational criminal groups, imposed a 60-day state of emergency in ten 10 provinces and three cantons this week.

The June 16 security decree, made by Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, stated it was necessary to address “severe internal unrest,” as 879 homicides had been recorded in the targeted areas between May 1 and June 12.

It is the latest in a series of emergency measures decreed by Noboa, who has pitched himself as an anti-drug crusader since he took office in November 2023, even while one of his family’s companies, Noboa Trading Co., has been caught up in the huge number of drug shipments sent from Ecuador to the Balkans.

With additional reporting by David González.