TIRANA, May 16 – A state police and serious crimes prosecution operation in Albania cracked down on a criminal ring that trafficked illicit substances internationally on Saturday.
Thirteen people were arrested during this operation, while four others, including Met Kanani, thought to be heading the ring, were previously arrested in Turkey and another person in Macedonia.
According to Albanian authorities, the group’s criminal activities extended in Albania, Turkey and EU member states and mainly dealt with heroin trafficking.
“Another criminal activity discovered by investigations was cocaine traffic from South America countries through the Balkans in Albania and the EU,” the official statement read.
Investigations on this ring began in February 2017. Albanian authorities said they cooperated with Greek, Turkish, Italian and Macedonian police, as well as with the DEA and other international organizations successful in running anti-drug trafficking missions.
Local media reported a total of 44 people were actually arrested in relation to this case since 2017, all belonging to this group which, in addition, was also confiscated big amounts of cannabis in Albania, Italy and Greece.
