Police in Ecuador and Spain have arrested at least 30 people in simultaneous operations as part of an investigation into Albanian organized crime, the Ecuadorean attorney general’s office said on Tuesday.

57 raids were carried out in Ecuador and Spain of which, in six Ecuadorian provinces and in four Spanish cities related to money laundering and drug trafficking.

The raids came amid a military offensive launched by Ecuador’s president Daniel Noboa to fight criminal gangs in the South American country, which he has branded terrorists.

Local media reports that after two and a half years of investigations, the authorities cracked down on the organization headed by the Albanian Dritan Gjika. According to the media, he collaborated with Ruben Cherres, a friend of the brother-in-law of the former president of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso.

Dritan Gjika, who entered Ecuador in November 2009, is identified as the head of this criminal organization.

30 people were arrested from this operation, 12 of them in Spain. Those arrested are Ecuadorian, Spanish, Argentine, Colombian and Chinese.

According to the Ecuadorian prosecutor’s office, 450,000 euros were seized in Spain. In total, 10 weapons, 25 vehicles and mobile phones were seized.