One of the criminals most wanted of Europe had been hiding in Madrid for months. This is the dangerous 59-year-old Albanian drug trafficker, accused of leading, together with his family and friends, a gang based in Belgium that was dedicated to the cultivation and trafficking of cannabis with which they amassed a fortune of more than four million euros. The detainee was number 22 on the list of the 50 most wanted fugitives in Europe, «Europe’s Most Wanted Fugitives» of Europol, which brings together the most wanted fugitives from justice on the continent.
The investigations to find his whereabouts began in January 2023, due to suspicions that he could be in Spain. In our country, the fugitive took numerous security measures to avoid being located and had different vehicles in which he traveled hidden, as well as multiple homes where he spent the night intermittently. He also changed his cell phone regularly. However, he was located last Thursday when he was heading to a van that had gone to look for him near one of his hideouts.
The National Police arrested Haredin Fejzulla under a European arrest and surrender warrant issued by the authorities of Belgium, where he was sentenced to more than 29 years in prison for thirteen crimes of drug trafficking, membership in a criminal organization and document falsification committed between 2014 and 2018.
His gang had a perfectly defined structure, in the lowest echelon of which were the gardeners and cleaning staff in charge of the plantations of cannabis. Above were those in charge of raising the money, those responsible for logistics – renting homes or providing vehicles – and the leaders, who coordinated all the activity.
To carry out these activities, they used false documentation to register electricity contracts and rent homes where they carried out massive cultivation and where they recruited people who were in an irregular situation in the country.
He fled Belgium after his conviction
The investigation by Belgian authorities against the Haredin Fejzulla gang culminated in the dismantling of more than thirteen cannabis plantations and their arrest. However, after being sentenced to more than 29 years in prison, he managed to escape and Belgium had already issued three European arrest warrants against him.
After his arrest, the Police placed the detainee at the disposal of the Central Investigative Court of the National Court, which must decide whether to extradite him to Belgium.
