New equipment provided to improve the control at border with Kosova

TIRANA, March 10 – A ceremony was held in Tirana Monday to unveil a new vehicle to help drug enforcement authorities of the Anti Drug Joint Task Force. The vehicle will be used at the Morini border crossing in northeastern Albania.
The donation was part of the project called, ‘Strengthening of Enhanced Border Control Capacities and Criminal Justice response Towards Illicit Trafficking and Organized Crime in Albania’, supported by the General Directorate for Development Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with a $1 million grant from Italy and implemented by UNODC.
Italy provides concrete assistance to the Albanian government in the fight against smuggling and organized crime. This ongoing initiative seeks both to strengthen the ability to detect illicit drugs and trafficking activities and to foster the criminal justice system in Albania.
This three-year project, begun in 2006, envisages the provision and delivery of modern equipment and technologies to improve inspection capacities, the organization of training courses for Customs and Border Police, as well as the creation of new procedures in the sector to align to the required European Union standards.
The main areas covered by the initiative include the Albanian Eastern and Green border, with Kosova, FYR Macedonia and Greece.