The State Police published today the results of the war against cannabis cultivation in Albania in 2020, which confirmed the fears that were already raised previously in the media: Albania’s cannabis cultivation has continued to grow during this year. According to the Italian law enforcement agency Guarda di Finanza, from a total of 67 aerial mission which were done in 185 hours, were identified and destroyed 58,423 cannabis sativa plants, 32,704 more than in 2019, where they identified 25,719 narcotic plants. Voice of America gave further details about the Guarda di Finanza report, adding that the number of the cannabis fields discovered in 2020 were 1964, in contrast to 1109 from 2019, although the hours of surveillance in 2019 were even longer, 225 hours. According to VOA, in the last two years “cannabis sativa’s cultivation has had a tendency to rise”.
In total, according to the State Police General Director Ardi Veliu, 137,216 cannabis plants were found and destroyed in 2020, from 90,175 a year ago. Referring to the Italian statistics, Veliu emphasized that this year saw 37% of fall in cannabis trafficking in Italy, from 1447 kg and 982 grams last year, to 911 kg and 500 grams in 2020. While former Minister of Interior, Sandër Lleshaj considered these data a “historical success”, the President Ilir Meta did not share the same enthusiasm, choosing to focus on the fact that overall there is a rise in cannabis cultivation across the country. “No surprise! The rise of cannabis cultivation, with the arrival of the elections, has become a tradition. It is a “concession” to the criminal groups, that in favour of colossal benefits from cannabis, it is asked by the partners in power the “electoral control” of the Counties,” said Meta, who continued by adding that the criminal groups are now identified, and they won’t have a chance to distort the next election.
In 2020, 17 police officers were prosecuted for their involvement in the criminal activity of cultivating narcotic plants, and 206 criminal proceedings were made against local officials for the criminal offences “abuse of duty” and “failure to report a crime”. On Monday morning, Vlora police announced also that they caught 120 kg of narcotic material, and prosecuted as a result 41 people, 27 of whom had been arrested. One of the arrested is a police officer, while another police officer is still being searched by the police. Four other police officers were also suspended from their duty, and have a mandatory request to appear in front of the Police Court.
