Tracking the world’s major cocaine route to Europe - and why it’s growing

The UK is now a major market for cocaine in Europe - and that's affecting people around the world.

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César (not his real name) is a member of the Latin Kings, a criminal drug gang in Ecuador. He was recruited by a corrupt counternarcotics police officer to work for the Albanian mafia, one of Europe's most prolific cocaine trafficking networks.

The Albanian mafia has expanded its presence in Ecuador in recent years, drawn by key trafficking routes through the country, and it now controls much of the cocaine flow from South America to Europe.

Despite Ecuador not producing the drug, 70% of the world's cocaine now flows through its ports, Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa says.

It is smuggled into the country from neighbouring Colombia and Peru – the world's two largest producers of cocaine.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0w4e4e00jo

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