Eldi Dizdari, also known as Denis Matoshi, has been extradited from the United Arab Emirates to Belgium and was immediately sent to prison. According to the Belgian authorities, he will serve a 10-year sentence for his role in international drug trafficking, while his name also appears in several major case files involving Albania, Italy and Belgium.
Confirmation from Belgium and transfer to prison
The news was first reported by Belgian media and later confirmed by Belgian Justice Minister Annelies Verlinden. According to the official version, the extradition is presented as part of cooperation between Belgium and the United Arab Emirates in cracking down on drug trafficking.
The 37-year-old, also known by other names such as Denis Matoshi, was sentenced by Belgian justice to 10 years in prison. Upon arriving in Belgium, he was immediately taken to a cell to serve the ruling handed down by the Antwerp court.
Suspicions over the cocaine network from Latin America
According to investigations cited in Belgium, Dizdari is considered one of the leading figures of the criminal organization known as the “Bello Company.” He is also known by the nicknames “the tall Albanian” and “Alduth.”
According to the same investigations, the group in which the name of Dritan Gjika is also mentioned is suspected of trafficking at least 50 tons of cocaine from Latin America to European Union countries. This is a claim of extraordinary weight, placing the case on a much broader scale than an ordinary extradition procedure.
Links to investigations in Albania and Italy
This group has also been investigated by SPAK in Albania. Dizdari’s name has also been mentioned in the major anti-drug operation carried out in Italy, where, according to reports, he appears among those arrested in that case file.
He is also linked to the dismantling of an Albanian cartel involved in international drug trafficking in Florence. According to published information, Dizdari had been hiding in Dubai while wanted by Albanian authorities.
Open case files in Albania
In Albania, Eldi Dizdari has been wanted since October 2018, following the serious incident in the former Blloku area, in which Fabiol Gaxha was killed and several people were injured. He is also included in this case file, which remains one of the most serious episodes in Tirana’s criminal underworld.
He is also under suspicion of having ordered 613 kilograms of cocaine seized in Arbër Çekaj’s banana containers at the Port of Durrës. Dizdari was arrested in Dubai in 2020 in an operation carried out with the cooperation of the police forces of several European countries.
His extradition to Belgium closes one phase of his flight, but not necessarily the entire chain of responsibility mentioned in the international case files in which his name appears.
The weight of the accusations and the scope of the investigations across several countries make this case more than an individual story: it once again raises serious questions about trafficking networks, the backing they may have had, and the gaps that allowed them to operate for years.