A FORMER law student who flooded the UK with Class A drugs and murdered two police officers has been extradited to Albania.
Notorious gangster Dritan Rexhepi – dubbed the “King of Cocaine” – had been on the run for 27 years and was wanted in four countries.
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Dritan Rexhepi was handcuffed as he was taken to a plane in TurkeyCredit: Albania police
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Armed police met Rexhepi in AlbaniaCredit: Albania police
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A mugshot of Rexhepi previously issued by InterpolCredit: Interpol
Rexhepi, 45, largely stayed one step ahead of the law and managed to evade capture and jail for many of his crimes across Europe.
As well as his extensive rap sheet, Rexhepi became famed for his prison escapes – boasting more than Mexican drug lord Joaquin Guzman Loera, better known as El Chapo.
He is also feared to have ordered the ruthless revenge killing of the brother of a man suspected of stealing a shipment of £20 million worth of cocaine to England that belonged to Rexhepi.
Drug kingpin Rexhepi appeared on a most wanted list issued by Scotland Yard in 2013.
It was believed he was hiding out in the UK at the time.
But the Albanian government beat Italy, Belgium and Britain in catching Rexhepi, who has now been extradited from Turkey.
Footage showed the gangsters in handcuffs and flanked by cops being escorted onto a plane.
A row of armed cops met Rexhepi off the jet in Albania, and he was transferred to a jail.
He is accused of murder, overseeing the kidnapping and execution of another Albanian, possessing illegal weapons and ammunition, and drug trafficking.
Ilir Proda General Director of Albanian police told The Sun: “The extradition of Dritan Rexhepi is a huge achievement and shows the trust of the Albanian police in our partners worldwide.
“At the same time, it’s a big service for Albanian justice sending a clear message – no one wanted Albanian fugitive can think he is safe where is hiding abroad.
“We’d like to say thank you to our Turkish colleagues who made possible his extradition to our country.
“This fugitive of justice was wanted as well from Italy. It was a strong competition with Italy who was going to extradite him.”
Rexhepi’s links to the criminal underworld started back in the 1990s, when he was still a teenager.
He was suspected of working as a contracted killer – and was convicted of the 1998 murders of two police officers but has only now, 27 years later, been caught by Albanian police.
By 2005, Rexhepi appeared to try and turn his life around by enrolling in law school.
Yet just a year later, the suspected assassin was arrested while in a luxurious hotel in Tirana with an unlicensed pistol and taken into police custody in Durres.
But that evening, Rexhepi staged his first of three spectacular escapes by picking open a faulty lock in the interrogation room with his finger.
In 2013, he was sentenced 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 the “rotten and unjust” justice system in Albania which, he claimed, wrongly accused him of murder.
He made out that because he was a wanted man, narcotics trading was the only “chance to do something else” with his life.
The gangster went on to rival Mexico’s most powerful cartels as he created a huge cocaine trafficking network that connected Colombia with the ports of Ecuador and the roads of Europe.
Known as the “undisputed capo” of criminal gang Kompania Bello, Rexhepi oversaw the operation – comprised of 14 Albanian criminal organisations – from Ecuador.
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Profile images of the kingpin issued by policeCredit: Police
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Police in Albania shared wanted posters for RexhepiCredit: Albania Police
Kompania Bello went on to be dubbed as one of the world’s “cocaine superhighways” – controlling the entire supply train rather than specialising in one link.
When Rexhepi was arrested in Quito, Ecuador’s capital, in 2014, he continued masterminding the empire from his call.
In 2008, he had been arrested in the Netherlands and extradited to Italy to be sentenced over cocaine trafficking.
Rexhepi and two other inmates concocted a plot to escape, and in 2011 cut through the bars of his cell and used red sheets as rope to reach the ground before fleeing.
The profound escape artist was picked up later that year in Spain and extradited to Belgium – where he was wanted for a string of serious crimes.
But prison guards again failed to keep him contained, and managed to break out of jail in Antwerp by climbing over the wall.
The prison where Rexhepi was housed is one of the oldest in Belgium and is not considered suitable for serious criminals.
In a report after he escaped, the Ministry of Justice report said: “There are only two guards present for 120 people, so the possibility of escape is very high.”
Rexhepi then set his sights on the UK and after he arrived, Scotland Yard published his photo and branded one of the 17 most dangerous foreigners on its soil.
Police in the UK failed to track the gangster down before he moved on to Ecuador and became involved in drug trafficking.
In June 2014, with a different identity and appearance, Rexhepi – going by the name 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 cell phone with which he continued to send Cesar Emilio Montenegro Castillo’s drugs to Europe.
It saw the start of the infamous Kompania Bello network – made up entirely of Albanian criminal organisations based in Europe.
For the first time, Albanian narcos did not have to turn to representatives in Europe of the South American cartels or the Italian mafias.
The 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 brainstorm new methods of transportation, evading the watchful eye of police.
Each member had to accept the implementation of certain rules, among them revenge on his family in case of betrayal.
Gang leaders were engaged in recruiting new soldiers among Albanians abroad, especially in the Netherlands and Italy.
DRUG GANG BUSTED
From behind bars, Rexhepi is accused of overseeing the brutal kidnapping and execution of another Albanian – Jan Prenga – in December 2019.
The alleged hit 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 as well as fruit, it was carrying a container stuffed with £20 million worth of cocaine.
After it went missing, Rexhepi accused rival Albanian gangster Ndrek Prenga, who was in the UK, of stealing it.
Out for revenge, Rexhepi is feared to have ordered a hit on his brother Jan, who vanished shortly after.
But in 2020, Kompania Bello was cracked and dismantled by Europol thanks to the collaboration of 10 different countries.
Rexhepi was still in prison – but was released in 2021 and banned from leaving Ecuador.
He vanished 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 on, he has been booted back to Albania – where he could face a lengthy prison sentence for his crimes.