Man found guilty of killing police officer in Durres, also wanted by Italy and Belgium for crimes he allegedly committed there.
TIRANA, Aug. 13 – One of Albania’s most wanted fugitives has been arrested in Ecuador, after authorities there found out he was wanted by several governments through Interpol, the world police body.
Dritan Rexhepi, 34, escaped from police custody in Durres in 2006 after he was arrested for the premeditated murder of a police officer and for possession of military weapons. He has been convicted in absentia by an Albanian court to serve 25 years for his crime.
Following a series of extraditions after his arrest in the Netherlands in 2008, Rexhepi was also involved in jailbreaks in both Italy and Belgium after receiving jail sentences for drug trafficking offenses in Italy and theft with violence in Belgium, according to an Interpol statement.
In late June, as part of an anti-drugs operation by Ecuadorean police in Quito, Rexhepi, reportedly using a fake identity, was one of several men arrested in possession of some 278 kg of cocaine.
After a complex international investigation and cooperation between Interpol and authorities in Quito, Tirana, Rome and Brussels, authorities were able to positively identify Rexhepi as one of the men arrested in the Ecuador raid. At the request of Albanian, Italian and Belgian authorities, Rexhepi was the subject of three Interpol Red Notices, the international organization said in a press release.
“The arrest and positive identification of this dangerous fugitive is a credit to all of the law enforcement agencies involved. It demonstrates the effectiveness of international police cooperation and underlines the value of Interpol’s global police tools and services,” said Interpol Executive Director of Police Services Jean-Michel Louboutin. “The authorities in Albania, Belgium, Ecuador and Italy are to be commended for their role in cooperating with law enforcement worldwide to bring to justice an individual wanted internationally for very serious offenses.”
