23-06-2025
Kinahan cartel on alert as major drug lord arrested in Abu Dhabi
The arrest is likely to shake up the Kinahan cartel as the UAE moves away from being the safe haven for criminals it once was.
International drug lord Dritan Gjika has been arrested in Abu Dhabi – a move likely to shake up the Kinahan cartel as the UAE moves away from being the safe haven for criminals it once was.
The Albanian cocaine trafficker, considered to be one of the leaders of drug trafficking worldwide, was arrested as part of Operation Pampa, Spanish police have said.
As part of the investigation, his Albanian criminal organisation, based in Ecuador, was dismantled.
Dritan Gjika
News in 90 Seconds - Monday June 23
40 people were arrested in Spain and Ecuador during 62 searches connected to the operation
More than €500,000, $2.3 million, as well as weapons and 12 high-end vehicles, were also seized.
Eight members of the gang were convicted in January for money laundering.
Dritan Gijka was on the run for 14 months, after vanishing from his home in Guayaquil, Ecuador where he ran his drug trafficking ring since 2009.
He went to the South American country on a temporary visitor's visa and stayed for 15 years.
He became one of the country's most wanted men for his involvement in shipping cocaine to Central America and Europe.
The 47-year-old was arrested in Abu Dhabi on May 26th.
He was the subject of two Interpol Red Notices for drug trafficking, money laundering and organised crime.
The Ministry for the Interior in Ecuador have said that his sophisticated network included a management team and logistics personnel.
They also say he used legitimate businesses to launder money and conceal his financial activities.
It's alleged that his network laundered money through companies in Spain and the UAE, InSightCrime has reported.
It has further been alleged that he received protection from the former head of Ecuador's police, while his business partner, Ruben Cherres, was a central figure in a corruption case involving the brother-in-law of former Ecuadorian president Guillermo Lasso.
Dritan Gjika is just the latest high-level international drug lord to be arrested in the United Arab Emirates.
Kinahan associates, and key figures in the so-called 'super cartel', Ridouan Taghi and Raffaele Imperiale, were both arrested in the United Arab Emirates and extradited to face serious charges in the Netherlands and Italy.
Daniel Kinahan
Meanwhile, Balkan mob boss Edin Gačanin was arrested in Dubai in March. He is facing extradition to the Netherlands to serve a seven-year jail term handed down in absentia.
Last month, Daniel Kinahan's right-hand man Sean McGovern was extradited to Ireland to face murder charges after being arrested in Dubai in October 2024.
It came days before the Middle Eastern country signed an extradition and mutual legal assistance treaty with Ireland.
Upon his return to Dublin, McGovern appeared before the Special Criminal Court charged with the murder of Noel 'Duck Egg' Kirwan, who was shot dead in Clondalkin in December 2016.
He was also charged with directing the activities of a criminal organisation in relation to the murder from October 20th to December 22nd, 2016.
He is the most senior member of the cartel to be charged before the Irish courts.
