Albanians part of a police swoop on pan-European drug ring

ROME, Nov 3 – European authorities have said they had smashed a pan-European drug ring in a 15-month coordinated operation by six national police forces that netted 29 suspects from Albania and the former Yugoslavia. During the operation, a collaboration between German, Austrian, Dutch, Luxembourg and Croatian police, assets worth more than 10 million Euros were seized including a yacht, automobiles, apartments, weapons and drugs, according to Italy’s anti-mafia prosecutor Pietro Grasso. Italian police also seized 76 kilograms of cocaine and 26 kilos of heroine. “Serbo-Croatian and Albanian organizations are increasingly getting involved in major drug trafficking through direct contacts with producers of either cocaine or heroine,” said Grasso.
The ring, considered “violent and armed,” allegedly imported cocaine from Venezuela and Colombia into Spain, then distributed it throughout Europe. Police say the group also imported heroin from Albania, then sent the drugs to Croatia, Slovenia and Italy.