DRUG WARS? Albanian shot dead in Costa Blanca restaurant in front of 'British girlfriend' named

THIS is the first picture of an Albanian shot dead as he ate a meal in a Spanish restaurant with his "British girlfriend."

The victims was today named by Albanian news network Top Channel as Brandon Bregu, 42, a known drug and firearms trafficker.

Top Channel also revealed an exclusive police image of him after he was gunned down in a suspected gangland hit on Friday.

Originally from Lushnja in Albania, Bregu was dining on the terrace of The Orange Tree (pictured above) British-owned restaurant in Alfas del Pi near Benidorm on the Costa Blanca, with his girlfriend when a masked and hooded gunman approached the table and shot him at least five times from close range.

The girlfriend has been described in the Spanish press as being a "British citizen."

The gunman then fled.

SCENE: The Orange Tree where the murder took place (Google)

Bregu had previously been arrested in connection with drug and arms trafficking, and therefore the murder is being investigated as a revenge hit linked to drug trafficking after a number of arrests earlier this month.

He was pronounced dead shortly before midnight on Friday after failed attempts by a waiter from a nearby bar and emergency doctor to save his life. A Civil Guard spokesman investigating the killing said there were "few witnesses". An Albanian source said Bregu had been in the resort in a vehicle with British-registered plates.

The influence of Albanian crime networks in the UK and European cocaine trade has grown in recent years.

Several Albanians are currently being extradited from the UK to Italy over major drug trafficking as exclusively revealed by Essex News and Investigations earlier this year.