Dutch-Albanian criminal wanted by Interpol arrested in Ecuador

A Dutch-Albanian "fruit trader" wanted by Interpol on suspicion of drug trafficking and participation in a criminal organization was arrested on March 2 in Ecuador. Police in the country received a tip that 55-year-old Nezdet V. was living in a suburb of Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city, according to AD.

V. was arrested near a gas station while driving home in his Ford and is set to be extradited to the Netherlands. Officially registered as a fruit trader, he was placed under Interpol's red notice several weeks ago on suspicion of trafficking hard drugs.

This is not Nezdet V.'s first arrest –– he was also taken into custody in Peru in 2012 at Belgian authorities' request, but fled with his family to Ecuador before he could be extradited to Belgium.

He is also supposed to be still serving a sentence for cocaine smuggling handed down in 2011, when he was involved in the import of 400 kilograms of cocaine through the port of Antwerp. V. will probably have to serve out this sentence in Belgium if extradited to the Netherlands, according to AD.