Srđan Jezdimir, known as the Serbian Escobar, one of the largest drug lords currently imprisoned in Ecuador, is once again at the center of a scandal in that country after encrypted messages and conversations were uncovered indicating that he bribed politicians, governors and ministers, and that he gifted a “Ford Edge” SUV to a presidential candidate.
The portal “el universo” reports that it had access to more than 200 analyzed conversations between the Serbian drug trafficker and his associates, including Uroš Kolaković, who is wanted by Serbia and Ecuador.
-The “Ford Edge” SUV was placed at the disposal of Andrés Arauz, a presidential candidate. It was revealed that the vehicle was gifted by Jezdimir in 2021. That year, Ecuador was experiencing one of the most polarized presidential campaigns in the country’s history, and Jezdimir gave the car to the then candidate of the Union for Hope coalition – the portal reported.
According to them, the investigation, launched only after one of the secret communication applications was decrypted, revealed that Jezdimir, who used the nickname Brother, provided “services” to politicians through whom he and members of his clan were protected in return, while also obtaining illegal Ecuadorian ID cards, names and identities.
-This was very important to them, because in that way they were protected since at that time Ecuador did not extradite its citizens to other countries – they explain why obtaining Ecuadorian documents was a priority.
In one intercepted conversation, a certain European named Odin writes to Brother, that is, to Jezdimir, that he will ask “Hermanito (whose identity has not been disclosed) for an armored truck because he had placed his own car at the disposal of the candidate,”
-I gave my car to Arauz Brother, you told me that day to hand it over. You know I do what you tell me Brother – it allegedly says in the intercepted communication.
Associates of Srđan Jezdimir, as stated, followed the election results on election day and celebrated the success of their political collaborators. At the same time, as noted, they strengthened their influence through other politicians, including governors and government ministers.
In one of the messages, Srđan Jezdimir wrote “we have this MP as well,” and sent his photograph, taken from television, and then added that with “his support we could launch T,” which investigators suspect refers to a ton of cocaine.
During the investigation, it was discovered that his power in the criminal underworld expanded through a network of associates which, in addition to politicians, included port and customs officials who informed him about container routes and destinations, port employees whose role was to help him ensure that containers in which he smuggled cocaine to Europe avoided inspections, individuals who established companies in their own names through which he laundered money, and even police and prosecutorial collaborators who helped him remain “under the radar” of investigators.
-According to operational information, he paid them in cash – the media report.
They state that during the investigation it was discovered that the criminal group led by Jezdimir founded as many as three security companies, for two reasons: so that his “soldiers” would obtain permits to carry weapons and so that he could “legally” place them as guards in strategically important port areas.
-Their role, according to documents from the investigation, was to enable the entry of drugs into ship terminals and their concealment in containers with legal cargo – the portal revealed.
Companies linked to the clan of this Serbian drug lord had registered addresses in Guayaquil and in areas near Posorja, in Guayas, one of the main departure points for Ecuadorian exports. From these ports, as Ecuadorian investigators suspect, he sent cocaine by transoceanic ships to Antwerp in Belgium and Rotterdam.
-The file that was opened also contains documentation on various methods of inserting cocaine, hiding it in ship floors or walls, using so-called “blind hooks,” that is, inserting cocaine into already loaded containers on ships among legal goods – they reveal details of the investigation.
Jezdimir was arrested in November 2024 in Ecuador for money laundering and has been in custody since then. In that proceeding he was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but at the end of December last year another investigation was launched against him for cocaine trafficking.
The new investigation, which reveals the Serbian drug lord’s ties to politicians, is not the first scandal associated with his name. Namely, in November last year cameras recorded him threatening a judge during the pronouncement of the verdict sentencing him to 10 years in prison for money laundering. According to media reports, he ran his finger across his throat, alluding to liquidation. After this incident, instead of increasing security for the judge who delivered the verdict, according to media reports, his protection was withdrawn. The judge allegedly left the country in utmost secrecy and no one knows where he is.
At the beginning of the year, the Ecuadorian judiciary decided to extradite Srđan Jezdimir to Austria, which is seeking him for planning the murder of a high-ranking member of the Kavač clan, Dejan Kašćelan, in Vienna! However, before being transferred to custody in Vienna, Jezdimir must serve his sentence in Ecuador.
An arrest warrant issued
Serbia and Croatia have also issued arrest warrants for Jezdimir. According to the submitted documentation, Croatian authorities are seeking Jezdimir for document forgery and fraud.
It should be recalled that Serbia also issued a warrant for him on suspicion that, as the leader of the so-called Balkan cartel, he participated in the smuggling of tons of cocaine, and his associate Uroš Kolaković is also wanted.
Additionally, the name of Srđan Jezdimir was mentioned in proceedings conducted against police inspector Božidar Stolić, who was finally convicted and was accused, among other things, of unlawfully checking within the Ministry of the Interior system, in exchange for money, whether arrest warrants had been issued against persons from the criminal milieu, including Jezdimir.
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Source: Kurir; Foto: Ekvadorska policija