TIRANA, May 31 – Italian authorities have dismantled a major drug trafficking network, which brought large quantities of marijuana into Italy from Albania.
The operation codenamed Illyria resulted in the arrest of eight people including three Albanians in the region of Apulia, in the country’s south-east on drugs and arms smuggling charges.
Police seized over a tonne of marijuana, a kilo of cocaine and heroin, 4,5 kilos of gelignite, an AK-47 assault rifle and 170 bullets.
The presumed head of the organization is an Albanian citizen Roland Lame, 47, who together with his 25-year old son used their connections across the Adriatic to secure the drugs, according to local media reports.
Two years ago, Italian police had busted another shipment of a tonne of marijuana originating from Albania as part of investigations focusing on the same criminal organization.
The latest bust in Italy goes to show that despite crackdowns on marijuana growers by Albanian police, drugs continue to pass through Albania toward the southern tip of Italy.
Marijuana cultivation continues to be a major problem for law enforcement in Albania even after the fall of Lazarat, a village notorious for being a haven of cannabis production and previously inaccessible to law enforcement agencies.
Recent police crackdowns on marijuana growers show that its cultivation continues to be a widespread phenomenon in the country.
Authorities destroyed 9,000 plants on Wednesday alone, in Fushà«-Arrà«z, northern Albania.
Last week, police eradicated over 10,000 marijuana plants in two separate operations in Elbasan, central Albania, and Vlora in southwestern Albania.
