Chef or drug lord? Italian found with counterfeit money and links to Albanian cartels in Ecuador

Another international scandal is shaking the world of organized crime and gastronomy. The well-known Italian chef, Panfilo Colonico, also known by the nickname Benny C., has recently been arrested in Ecuador, suspected of involvement in cocaine trafficking networks and of having direct ties with the Albanian mafia.

His arrest was carried out during a police raid in his residence in Samborondón, an elite area near the capital Quito. During the searches, law enforcement discovered and seized large amounts of counterfeit money, adding money laundering to the charges. Italian media report that Colonico is under investigation for collaboration with international criminal organizations, including structured Albanian groups operating in drug trafficking across Latin America.

Panfilo Colonico is not an unfamiliar name to the authorities. He became known in June 2023, when he was kidnapped by armed men disguised as police officers while at his restaurant “Il Sabore Mio” in the city of Guayaquil, one of the areas most affected by criminal activity in Ecuador. The abduction lasted six days and involved the intervention of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which sought help from Ecuadorian authorities for his release. Colonico returned to the restaurant by taxi, while two of the kidnappers were arrested a few days later.

According to information obtained from investigative sources, he moved to Ecuador in March 2020, after having lived and worked for a period in Canada, before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. His activity in Ecuador began with the opening of a restaurant specializing in Italian cuisine, but investigators believe that behind the gastronomic façade lay an extensive network of connections to international drug trafficking and Albanian criminal groups.

In January 2023, several months before the kidnapping, an incident involving gunfire was reported near his restaurant. Colonico himself described the event as a simple robbery, but local sources suspect it was a settling of scores due to unpaid financial obligations to a group involved in drug trafficking.

Investigations are still ongoing, while Ecuadorian authorities are working closely with international agencies to fully uncover the network in which the Italian chef is suspected of being involved and his connections with Albanian organized crime in Latin America.

“KORÇA BOOM”