TIRANA, Nov. 19 – Albanian police have had another busy week making drug busts, including one of the largest operations ever against a drug trafficking network based in Tirana.
Twenty six people involved in the heroin and cocaine distribution network were arrested, and four others are wanted and still at large.
Police said in a statement it arrested “a well-structured distribution of narcotics group, ranging from organizers, coordinators and distributors.”
Over a two-year period the group had made nearly 1 million euros in the Tirana market alone, police said.
The operation seized in 1 kg of heroin, 180 doses of cocaine, a pistol, 10 cars, 30 mobile phones – 10,000 euros, as well as electronic scales, Tirana Police Chief Ervin Hoxha said in a press conference.
– Marijuana hauls caught at borders
Italian police at the port of Bari say they discovered 1.6 tons of marijuana, hidden in a truck loaded in Albania, which was drive by two Albanians, who were arrested.
Despite massive Albanian police operations against the cultivation of cannabis, traffickers seem to have managed to secure large quantities to smuggle abroad.
Earlier in the week, 250 kilograms of cannabis sativa were seized hidden at a truck passing the border with Greece at Qafe Bote, Saranda. The drugs were packed in 231 small packages, and the driver was arrested, police said.
In another operation, codenamed “the Weekend,” police found 1.8 kilograms of cannabis and five grams of heroin – and large amounts of cash in a bust. The owner of the drugs and two distributors were arrested.
At another border crossing, at Vlora port, police found 32.4 kilograms of cannabis hidden in a commercial truck and arrested the 48-year old Italian driver.
Police in Berat also seized 80 kilograms of cannabis in an operation code-named “Cifliku.” Four people were arrested, members of the same family. Police also seized one rifle and sequestered a vehicle.
Albanian and Greek police are facing increased cases of trafficking in marijuana cultivated this year in different regions of Albania.
Marijuana is transported by land but the sea trafficking was recently reactivated. A few days ago the police forces of the two countries decided to raise the level of cooperation in the exchange of police information with the creation of a joint information center in a the Kakavija border crossing point.
