The leader of the “Kompanio Bello” drug cartel, Dritan Rexhepi, was arrested in an operation by the Turkish police in Istanbul, and Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya was injured, reports Anadolu.
Dritan Rexhepi, who is wanted by the authorities of Albania and Italy and is on Interpol’s red warrant for murder, drug trafficking, kidnapping, extortion, illegal deprivation of liberty, forgery of travel documents and illegal trade in arms and ammunition, was arrested in a police operation in the most populous city in Turkey, Yerlikaya confirmed in a statement on the X social network.
Rexhepi entered Turkiye through the Istanbul airport, according to information from sources close to the security forces, using a Colombian passport in the name of Benjamin Omar Perez Garcia.
The leader of the cartel was found with the cooperation in the domain of the exchange of intelligence information between the police of Italy and Turkey.
“Kompanio Bello” is known as a large-scale criminal group and a “big player” in drug smuggling from South America to Europe.
