Rough weather causes traffic problems
TIRANA, Feb. 1 – Heavy rain and snow over the weekend, espcially in the eastern part of the country, caused havoc on many national roads and blocked some of them, primarily in the countryside.
Heavy rain also flooded hundreds of hecters of agricultural land in the Kruja district. In addition, some 1,800 hectares remain flooded since early January.
Driving was allowed only with chains in many parts of the country.
The rough weather, however, did not cause any fatalities.
Drug trafficker arrested
TIRANA, Feb. 1 – A 17 year old teenager, identified only as H.O., was arrested last Sunday after police found him with a small amount of cocaine.
The teenager was arrested in downtown Tirana and found with 3.7 grams of cocaine he had divided into five small portions ready to be sold.
Three persons were arrested in another operation and accused of trafficking drugs.
Feridun Kujtim Gorica, 20, Klajdi Kujtim Xhaja, 22, and Rezart Nexhip Hyskolli, 22, were arrested after police were informed they were involved in trafficking cannabis sativa. Police also found half a kilogram of cannabis at their homes.
Drug trafficking remains a top priority for the police as the country is considered a transit point for hard drugs but also a place of origin for cannabis sativa.
3 dead due to jealousy
KORCA, Feb. 1 – Two people were murdered and another died at the hospital after suffering serious injuries when a jealous husband shot them with his AK47 Kalashnikov rifle in southeastern Albania.
Police arrested the suspect two days later at his brother’s home in northern Albania.
The husband shot at three brothers after finding out that one of them was having an affair with his wife.
His wife is also sheltered at her father’s home in fear of revenge by her husband.
The father of the three dead victims said that the suspect had asked a ransom of thousands of dollars to close the issue and then had gone to shoot dead the three brothers.
Alleged human trafficker arrested
TIRANA, Jan. 31 – Tirana police arrested Agim Ali Imeri, 46, accusing him of allegedly trafficking a 23-year old woman to Italy and exploiting her as a prostitute.
Police started the investigation after an indictment from the woman herself who was forced to serve as prostitute since August last year when she was sent to Italy through Montenegro, Croatia and Slovenia.
Another extradition from neighboring Greece
TIRANA, Jan. 31 – Police reported that Andrea Halil Berberi, 42, was extradited from neighboring Greece to serve his prison sentence for armed theft.
Berberi had been sentenced to 20 years imprisonment after he was found guilty of the death of a person who had been trying to illegally cross the border.
In January 2000 Berberi together with another person had stopped a group of Albanians who were trying to illegally cross the Greek border on foot. They were robbed of all their money. One of them, Xhemal Guri, had tried to escape the theft but he was shot dead by Berberi.
Last October he was arrested in Greece and then extradited to Albania.
