Albanians arrested in Italy for drug trafficking

TRIESTE, Sep. 21 – Italian police claimed they have discovered a cocaine traffic network from Albania to Italy and have arrested eight persons, including two Albanians. The operation, called “Black Tulipan,” was carried out in different Italian cities including Udine, Treviso and Vipiteno (Bolzano) using wiretaps and sophisticated systems of tracking suspects. Among the arrested there was also an Austrian citizen. An Albanian was believed to be responsible for ordering the purchase of the cocaine and also considered “the goat”, to whom the organization consulted every decision on the choice of the drug for his ability to determine the degree of purity of the cocaine. The investigation had started after numerous drug seizures in several zones of northern Italy and after the criminal organizations from South and Central America in collaboration with Albanian ones and had begun moving international cocaine traffic toward Italy.