TIRANA, Oct. 1 – Albanian police continue to catch massive hauls of cannabis in their operations, with nearly two tons of marijuana seized this week in the country’s northern and southeastern regions.
On Wednesday, 931 kilos of marijuana were seized in the Orosh area of Mirdita, a rural and mountainous region.
On Monday, 890 kilos of cannabis were seized in the Korca region, and 180 kilos were also seized in the Vlora and Tepelena regions.
All the finds had in common that very rural and mountainous terrain was being used to hide the drug operations, according to the police reports. Weapons and ammunition were found in two of the cases. Nine people were arrested.
Law enforcement experts say this is the most delicate and dangerous period of the year as criminal groups are involved in the collection process of cultivating marijuana and transporting it to Italy and Greece.
These groups, according to anti-drug experts have a strong financial base, modern logistics tools and use weapons to secure the trafficking routes.
Police have face criticism for only being able to arrest the farmers and workers, and not the leaders of the operations.
The Korca bust came after two journalists showed on television that the plantation existed, for example. They and their families were later threatened through an SMS message sent from the Netherlands, local media reported.
