A 34-year-old Albanian who was liquidated in Ecuador on January 22 was one of the main leaders of the cocaine trade to Europe and part of Asia, according to Interpol. According to authorities, Ergys Dashi, riddled with more than 20 bullets, was one of the links between the Albanian and Russian mafia in South America.

The Ecuadorian newspaper El Comercio wrote on Thursday that Dashi was fired on by gunmen in a restaurant in the city of Guayaquil and died on the spot from the hail of bullets. He was riddled about 7 p.m. on the particular Saturday night when two gunmen, one of them carrying a bouquet of flowers, entered the restaurant. A 26-year-old woman was also injured in the attack.

Ergys Dashi was arrested by Italian police in 2014 along with 31 other suspects in a major investigation into an Albanian drug clan , according to Albanian media . Twelve of them were sentenced to prison terms. The criminal organization, of which Dashi was a leader, trafficked large quantities of drugs in Albania, Spain and Bolivia, and then distributed them all over Italy. The group was also involved in forced prostitution and illegal possession of weapons.