OCCRP: In September 2020, alleged cocaine kingpin Dritan Gjika texted a contact that the phones they were using were no longer safe.

In September 2020, alleged cocaine kingpin Dritan Gjika texted a contact that the phones they were using were no longer safe.

Despite this, he and key interlocutors kept using their Sky phones for another six months — a move that would contribute to their downfall after police hacked into the encrypted messaging platform the following year.OCCRP has now obtained hundreds of pages of Gjika’s Sky chat logs, which were filed by Ecuadorian prosecutors as evidence in a criminal case against him and members of the powerful cocaine trafficking network he allegedly led.The chats reveal granular details about the daily logistics of running a cocaine empire, from infiltrating Ecuador’s ports, to handling international transfers of drugs and cash.Gjika, an Albanian national who is now one of Ecuador’s most wanted criminals, was arrested in Abu Dhabi in 2025 and is currently awaiting extradition to Ecuador.At least 17 others have been convicted in Ecuador of belonging to or aiding the same criminal syndicate. Four others were convicted of laundering the proceeds of the racket, making transfers of more than $43 million between 2015 and 2023.Read the full story → The Crime MessengerIn 2024, OCCRP published The Crime Messenger, a series of stories which showed how organized crime groups used mobile phones from encrypted communications company Sky Global to facilitate their operations.Reporters from OCCRP and 12 partners gained access to over 3,800 files from a major court case involving Sky, including police reports and chat logs, providing an unprecedented look inside these operations.

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About michelleclarke2015

Life event that changes all: Horse riding accident in Zimbabwe in 1993, a fractured skull et al including bipolar anxiety, chronic fatigue …. co-morbidities (Nietzche 'He who has the reason why can deal with any how' details my health history from 1993 to date). 17th 2017 August operation for breast cancer (no indications just an appointment came from BreastCheck through the Post). Trinity College Dublin Business Economics and Social Studies (but no degree) 1997-2003; UCD 1997/1998 night classes) essays, projects, writings. Trinity Horizon Programme 1997/98 (Centre for Women Studies Trinity College Dublin/St. Patrick's Foundation (Professor McKeon) EU Horizon funded: research study of 15 women (I was one of this group and it became the cornerstone of my journey to now 2017) over 9 mth period diagnosed with depression and their reintegration into society, with special emphasis on work, arts, further education; Notes from time at Trinity Horizon Project 1997/98; Articles written for Irishhealth.com 2003/2004; St Patricks Foundation monthly lecture notes for a specific period in time; Selection of Poetry including poems written by people I know; Quotations 1998-2017; other writings mainly with theme of social justice under the heading Citizen Journalism Ireland. Letters written to friends about life in Zimbabwe; Family history including Michael Comyn KC, my grandfather, my grandmother's family, the O'Donnellan ffrench Blake-Forsters; Moral wrong: An acrimonious divorce but the real injustice was the Catholic Church granting an annulment – you can read it and make your own judgment, I have mine. Topics I have written about include annual Brain Awareness week, Mashonaland Irish Associataion in Zimbabwe, Suicide (a life sentence to those left behind); Nostalgia: Tara Hill, Co. Meath.

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