TIRANA, April 7 – Albanian-speaking groups play a variety of roles as producers of cannabis herb in both the EU and Albania and as distributors of Afghan resin, which is making inroads in some EU countries, according to an EU drugs market report.
Major herbal cannabis-producing countries in the Balkan region, including Albania, Serbia, Bulgaria and, to some extent, Kosovo, supply the markets of central-eastern and south-eastern Europe, says the report published by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction and Europol. The report describes Albania as a main distribution hub for cannabis resin along with the Netherlands, despite a crackdown on the notorious marijuana growing village of Lazarat in summer 2014.
“Albania appears to have been an important outdoor producer; however, this situation may have changed recently as a result of intensive eradication efforts in the summer of 2014. Cannabis plants were found growing on several hundred hectares in the southern municipality of Lazarat, in a mountain region near the Greek border, although commercial cannabis production probably also occurs elsewhere in Albania,” says the report.
In addition, Europol indicates that low-potency cannabis herb produced in Albania is trafficked to the Netherlands and used to adulterate higher-potency cannabis, the mixture being destined for the UK market.
The report suggests the need for active monitoring to identify potential threats related to production and trafficking activities in some areas, such as Afghanistan and Albania.
