37 Kilos of Cocaine Seized in Durrës Linked to ‘General’ Gerd Gjinarari Network
Albanian authorities seized 37 kilograms of cocaine hidden inside a container carrying chicken meat from Brazil at the Port of Durrës, with Belgian investigators reportedly linking the shipment to the criminal network of Gerd Gjinarari, known as “The General.”
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The cocaine was reportedly concealed in the external refrigeration compartments of the Brazilian container, which had transited through Greece before being ordered by AMG Food, a company owned by Mondi Goxhaj.
Kristof Aerts, a spokesperson for the Antwerp Public Prosecutor’s Office, officially confirmed a connection between the Belgian operation and the seizure of the 37 kilograms of cocaine in Durrës. The case has subsequently been referred to Albania’s Special Prosecutor’s Office (SPAK) for further investigation.
Eight people were arrested during the Antwerp operation, including a 48-year-old Albanian national suspected of acting as a key intermediary between Latin American drug cartels and criminal groups operating across Europe and as far as Australia.
According to the investigation, the alleged intermediary maintained direct contact with Gerd Gjinarari, who was himself arrested in Belgium several months earlier.
Gjinarari is a longstanding name in Albanian organized crime and was convicted in Italy for the 1997 killing of Naim Zyberi, a prominent figure in Tirana’s criminal underworld during the 1990s and a rival of Gaz Muça.
On August 6, 1997, Zyberi was killed inside a hospital in Milan where he was receiving treatment. Gjinarari, Arben Grori and another individual were convicted in connection with the killing, with Gjinarari receiving a life sentence from Italian justice.
He was extradited to Albania in 2014 to serve his sentence. In February 2019, however, he was granted conditional release by judge Markelian Kuqo in Korçë shortly after being transferred to Drenovë prison. The Court of Appeal later overturned the decision and ordered his return to prison.
Gjinarari subsequently fled abroad and has now resurfaced in an investigation into an alleged international cocaine trafficking network.