TIRANA, May 1 – The Italian coast guard said on Monday it seized approximately 2.5 tons of Albanian cannabis worth around €20 million in Salento’s coast, arresting four speedboat drivers and confiscating a Kalashnikov firearm and 30 bullets.
The police report stated it found and collected the entire cannabis amount — ten crates the dealers threw underwater before being arrested and 105 crates left on board.
Italian authorities, however, have not specified the drugs’ exact origin, although almost a month ago the area saw another crackdown on half a ton of cannabis coming from Albania.
Italy is one of the top Albanian cannabis trafficking destinations, as cultivators and traffickers use the naval space between Vlora and Italy to unsuspectingly transport big amounts of cannabis, and other illicit drugs.
Similar seizures have been lately reported from the Albanian-Greek border too, according to Greek police, as hundreds of kilos of cannabis have been found in cars traveling to and from Albania.
In these operations, Greeks have been arrested alongside Albanians; according to Greek police reports, around 1.3 tons of cannabis were seized in Albania’s neighboring areas.
