Eldi Dizdari, also known as Denis Matoshi, has been extradited from Dubai to Belgium and transferred to a Belgian prison to begin serving a 10-year sentence for drug trafficking.
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His extradition from the United Arab Emirates was confirmed by Belgian Justice Minister Annelies Verlinden, following a lengthy legal process between the two countries. Belgian authorities said he was flown from the UAE and arrived at the military airport in Melsbroek, before being transferred to a Belgian prison.
“This shows that there are no safe havens for drug criminals,” Verlinden said in announcing the latest extraditions from the UAE. Belgium has increasingly intensified cooperation with the Emirates in cases involving major international drug-trafficking investigations.
A 10-year sentence in Antwerp
Dizdari was sentenced this year by a Belgian court in Antwerp to 10 years in prison and an €80,000 fine for his role in drug trafficking.
The court also ordered the confiscation of approximately €7.5 million in alleged criminal proceeds, according to Belgian media reports.
His conviction is connected to the Yaramis investigation, in which Belgian investigators examined the activities of a criminal network operating around the port of Antwerp. According to reporting on the case, investigators linked Matoshi to the organization as a person who commissioned the transportation of large quantities of drugs.
Belgian investigators had previously identified him as the person referred to by members of the Yaramis network as “the Tall Albanian” or “Eldi.”
The “Kompania Bello” connection
Dizdari's name has appeared for years in investigations concerning “Kompania Bello,” a network that European authorities have associated with large-scale cocaine trafficking from Latin America into Europe.
Albanian authorities, including SPAK, have also investigated his alleged links to the network. Albanian media have reported that investigations into the group concerned the trafficking of enormous quantities of cocaine from South America to European markets.
The Belgian case, however, is the basis for the 10-year prison sentence that Dizdari will now serve in Belgium.
From Dubai to a Belgian prison
Matoshi had spent roughly two years in detention in Dubai after being arrested at the request of Belgian authorities.
His transfer became possible after the UAE approved the extradition following the lengthy legal proceedings.
The case is also notable because Dubai has for years been described by European law-enforcement authorities as a location where high-profile suspects in international organized crime sought refuge.
Belgium and the UAE signed an extradition treaty in December 2021, strengthening the legal framework for transferring wanted individuals between the two countries.
For Belgian authorities, the extradition represents another example of increasingly close international cooperation against organized drug trafficking.
For Dizdari, the long period spent in Dubai has now ended.
He is in Belgium, in custody, and faces the execution of the 10-year prison sentence imposed by the Antwerp court.