Colombian authorities have arrested Albanian citizen Genti Krasniqi, 62, one of the most wanted by Interpol and Italian justice for international heroin trafficking. The arrest was carried out in the city of Tunja, where he was identified and detained at the Immigration Office, after an attempt to carry out administrative procedures. According to the prestigious daily "El Tiempo", Krasniqi had been living in Colombia for several years, posing as an ordinary tourist, while in reality he was one of the main figures in drug trafficking, on the run since 2016.
Investigations by the Milan prosecutor's office had revealed in 2016 that a luxury apartment in the city was being used by a couple – an Italian woman and an Albanian citizen – to hide large quantities of heroin coming from Tirana. The couple were arrested at the time, but Genti Krasniqi managed to evade the Italian police operation and fled, immediately being declared internationally wanted with a "circular guard" by Interpol.
Sources of “El Tiempo” report that Krasniqi had entered Colombian territory since 2023. He had stayed mainly in Bogotá and other large cities, while he had recently settled in Tunja. According to preliminary investigations, the reason for moving to this city was related to the fact that his passport had expired and he thought that in a smaller area he would avoid the attention of the authorities, not falling into the eyes of the Interpol system. Krasniqi's name appears in several international court files, where he is mentioned as part of a heroin trafficking network based in Italy and Albania. Investigations have revealed that the network used prostitutes as couriers to transport drug shipments to various destinations in Europe.
Currently, Genti Krasniqi is in custody in Colombia, while local authorities await Italy's official request for his extradition. The process is expected to last several weeks, while the Colombian Attorney General's Office has launched investigations to identify the people or groups who supported him during his stay in the country, as well as the ways in which he managed to enter Colombian territory without being detected by the authorities.
