Watching the world’s main cocaine route to Europe

“Albania Mafia will call me and say:” We want to send 500 kg of drugs. “If you do not accept it, they kill you.”

César (not a real name), a member of Latin kings with a criminal drug gang in Ecuador. One of the most long-term cocaine trading networks in Europe was hired by the Corruptionknotechnic Police Officer to work for the Albanian Mafia.

Albania Mafia has expanded its existence in Ecuador in recent years, which is with the main trade roads through the country and now manages most of the cocaine flow from South America to Europe.

Although Ecuador does not produce medicine, 70% of the world’s cocaine lasts through ports, Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa says.

The two largest largest producers of the world – the country from neighboring Colombia and Peru.

Police say that they have seized a record amount of illegal drugs last year, and this shows that this is an increase in total exports.

The results are fatal: January 2025 saw a murder, the most deadly month in recent years. Many of them were related to illegal drug trafficking.

We talked to people in the supply chain to understand why this crisis was deteriorating and how the consumption of growing European cocaine.

César, 36, started working with cartels when he was first 14 years old, asked for a factor.

“Albanians need someone to solve problems,” Albanians said. “I knew port guards, transport drivers, CCTV camera controllers.”

Bring them bribes them to Ecuadorian ports or blind eyes and a random camera.

After the cocaine coming from Colombia or Peruvious Cocaine, Albanian employers are taken in warehouses until they are aware of a shipping container that will leave one of the ports.

Networking cocaine uses three basic methods to transport: hide medications before reaching the port or hides the drugs before reaching the containers in the port or connecting to the containers in the port.

Sometimes César is up to $ 3,000 (2235 pounds 2,235) for a job, but the incentives are not only money: “If you don’t want the Alban, they will kill you.”

César says it is very regret to the role of drug trafficking, especially the “hostage victims”.

But he thinks the sin belongs to consumer countries. “If the consumption increases, it will be trafficked. It will be sustainable,” he said: “If they fight there, it will end here.”

Not only the group members, but caught in this supply chain.

Juan is a truck driver, not a real name. One day he received a tuna shipping to carry to the port. Says something looks like.

“The first alarm was when we went to the warehouse, and there was only a burden, there was nothing else. The tenant was not the name of the warehouse, the company was not.

“Two months later, I saw the containers in Amsterdam, the news that were full of drugs. We did not know.”

Some drivers transport drugs without knowing; Others are forced – they are killed if they give up.

European gangs are drawn to Ecuadoria for their location, at the same time, which offers a suitable way to hide illegal loads.

“The leaving Ecuador is 66% of the containers leaving 29.81%, the European Union, which increased drug consumption,” said Banana Industrial Representative José Antonio Hidalgo.

Some batches even established fake fruit imports or export companies in Europe and Ecuador as a front for illegal activities.

“These European merchants pose as businessmen,” he says José (not a real name), an anonymous talking prosecutor due to the threats targeted and received by organized criminals.

An infamous example of an infamous, is accused of being one of the most powerful Albanian mafia in Ecuador, Dritan Gjika.

The prosecutors say that in Ecuador in Fruit Export companies and in Europe in Europe used in traffic cocaine. He stays in the run, but many were confronted by prisoners after a multinational police operation.

Lawyer Monica Luzárraga defended one of his partners and is now talking about knowing how these networks work.

“In those years, he has increased the export of bananas to Albania,” he says.

The authorities seem to be nervous that the entire economy is used as the frontline and the whole economy is bananas. So it’s banana. Thus, two plus are equal to two feet. “

Police and Armed Forces are trying to manage the situation in Ecuador’s ports.

Boat waters patrol, police, crawling banana boxes for cocaine bricks – even the police search for medicines under the ships.

Everyone is very armed, even just protects banana boxes before loading the shipping pots. The reason for this is a corrupt port worker who is corrupt, can be involved in the case of a search, and can activate a violent event.

Despite these efforts, the police said the amount of cocaine who successfully smuggled from Ecuador reached a record limit. The rising demand and economic factors are accused.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ecuador, 300 tons of drugs were seized last year – a new annual record.

The main Christian Cozar Cueva, the national police, says, “There is a 30% increase in Europe in recent years.”

In cocaine, this increase has become more dangerous for those caught in the supply chain.

Truck driver “Juan” says the increase in “container pollution” makes it more sensitive.

Authorities captured a container in a day before two tons of drugs: “We were a chilos, now talk about tons.”

“If you don’t pollute containers, you have two options: leave the job or ended dead.”

An economy, which was stuck by the Covenant Pandemic, was more sensitive to the recruitment of Ecuadorians.

A security forces with a security force involved in the financial pandemic, organized crime and previously engaged in visa rules, provided the participation of European groups after 2020.

Monica Luzárraga says that in 2021 “Albanian mafia infiltration was on the road.”

During this period, he says Albanian citizens have coincided with a Spike against the “flow” and banana exports, including Albania.

“This is a profitable business that harms Ecuadoria and harms criminal organizations. How can we accept an economy based on the suffering?”

Towards foreign cartels, this irir is surprising, taking into account its contribution to the increase in violence.

However, something agrees with some trade and those who deal with them: trade consumers are burned by consumers, especially in the United States and Australia.

Displays information Global cocaine consumption hit record levels. Its surveys offer the use of the world’s second highest cocaine in the world.

The British National Criminal Agency (NCA) consumes 117 tons of cocaine in England every year and has the largest market in Europe.

Evidence shows that consumption in the UK has increased.

The analysis of the sewage of the UK’s house office and the consumption of cocaine has increased from 2023 to 2024 since 2024. NCA operations seized 232 tons of cocaine compared to 194 tons in 2023.

Charles Yates, Deputy Director of NCA’s Threat Director, this is the British “country of choice” for organized criminals who earn Britain from high demand.

The UK estimates that the cocaine market is worth 11 billion (14.2bn) and the criminal groups are about 4 billion pounds a year in England.

Like prosecutor José, these groups fighting these groups in Ecuador, “citizens will have the owner of” in the “in order to manage trade financing.”

They take the victims in many forms.

For Mr. Hidalgo, this is an exporter of bananas, reputation and economic damage. For Mrs. Luzárraga, “children who are separate from criminal gangs are teenagers.”

“There are citizens who want to pay a large amount of money to have the drugs they consume in Europe. As a result, medications that are the life of Ecaman citizens.”

NCA also requires additional casualties to these “catastrophic” effects, cocaine effects and cocaine use in communities during the supply chain. Death to cocaine in the UK increased by 30% in 2023 in 2023 and reached 1,118.

NCA also warns that the drug has further increased domestic violence.

The efforts of open law enforcement agencies are not enough to solve the supply: “It will never be a response to the supply. Really important is the change in demand.”

From the members of the drug group, this is the message of Ecuador to Europe until the President.

President Daniel Noboa, Standing for a second time The launch of the presidential election on April 13, fought the criminal groups, one of the criminal priorities and placed a military military to resolve the bunches.

He said to the BBC: “The chain ended in the UK entertainment includes a lot of violence.”

“What entertaining for one person, probably includes 20 murders along the way.”

Additional report by Jessica Cruz