TIRANA, July 29 – Authorities continue their anti-cannabis operation across Albania, sifting through the countryside and conducting searches and seizures among the population, police said this week.
Police reported daily finds of thousands of cannabis plants in the municipalities of Vlora, Tirana, Shkodra and Tropoja.
There is an increased surveillance at entry points, seaports in particular, police said.
Police are also regularly checking buses, and this week they found a few kilos of cannabis and arrested a 23-year old man who was trying to take the cannabis to Italy through a ferry.
Some of the anti-cannabis stories have been more into direct enforcement against personal consumption. A father was arrested for trying to smuggle a small amount of cannabis to his son in jail, for example. Two Kosovo tourists were arrested in Dhermi for having a couple of joints for their own consumption while they were on vacation in the Riviera.
But most of the operation has been against cultivation and trafficking. Police in Korça arrested six people who authorities believe were part of a trafficking gang.
Albanian police are also continuing to work with their Italian counterparts assisting them with specialized airplanes that monitor from the air to find marijuana plantations.
Police report that during the anti-cannabis fight so far this year they have cut and destroyed almost 300,000 cannabis plants. Last year they destroyed more than half a million.
