Italian police bust major Balkans crime network

TIRANA, Oct. 23 – A large international police operation based in Italy has led to the arrest of 71 people in Italy, Albania, Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, for international drugs trafficking and other related crimes, EU police agency Europol said on Monday.
Italian Carabinieri ROS, under supervision of the District Prosecutor’s Office in L’Aquila, and National Directorate against drugs held Operation Ellenika started four years ago. They were focused on a Kosovo-Albanian organized crime group involved in trafficking large quantities of heroin from Albania to Italy, via Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
International police co-operation between Albanian, Bosnian, Croatian, Kosovar and Slovenian authorities resulted in evidence of the criminal group trafficking more than 600 kg of heroin and 500 kg of marijuana in total, police said.
In another operation police in the southernmost city of Sarande stopped a mule loaded with 72 kg of cannabis that was destined to be trafficked across the border into neighboring Greece. Some persons managed to leave after seeing police. Police are investigating to find the perpetrators.