DETROIT — An accused drug kingpin from the Detroit area building a remote-controlled submarine to allegedly smuggle cocaine around the world dropped F-bombs and fretted about lost profits as his empire imploded following a series of seizures in European ports, according to federal court records.
In a new indictment, prosecutors alleged Ylli Didani, 44, left a digital, real-time trail of woe in texts as drug investigators across Europe seized shipments of his smuggled cocaine. In all, from Spain to the United Kingdom to the Netherlands, from 2017 to 2020, investigators seized more than 4,800 kilograms, or 10,582 pounds, of cocaine, hidden aboard cargo ships, according to the court filing.
The indictment, for the first time, explained how Didani's alleged drug ring managed to smuggle the cocaine and describes the involvement of the drug ring's secret financier, Marty Tibbitts, a telecommunications CEO from Grosse Pointe Park. And the indictment indicated Didani's drug organization is still operational, one year after his arrest, as co-conspirators were ordering, buying and picking up armored vehicles, including a 2020 Lexus LX 570, a 2020 Mercedes-Benz AMG G 63 and a 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe, as recently as last month.
