Opposition angry over army helicopters use to aid police

Democrats accuse defense minister of improper use of army helicopters to help police anti-drugs operation without proper authorization.
TIRANA, Sept. 16 – The main opposition Democratic Party has been involved in a series of accusations against Defense Minister Mimi Kodheli, who the opposition says allowed army helicopters be used in anti-drug police operations without respecting the regulations in place to keep the army from operating as a law enforcement institution.
The opposition says the minister broke the proper state protocols in allowing army equipment to be used for law enforcement, and endangered the lives of the pilots.
The Democrats say that it was only an oral agreement between Kodheli and Interior Minister Saimir Tahiri that allowed for the use of the army helicopters in anti-drug operations – not a government decision approved by parliament as Albanian legislation mandates.
The army helicopters have been in used in southern Lazarat in June and also in the recent operation in Shkodra and Malesi e Madhe in northern Albania. In Lazarat, they were only used to transport police special forces, not to attack drug gangs.
Last week, a police helicopter was shot and damaged my drug gangs in northern Albania’s Dukagjin region and had to perform an emergency landing, without any serious damage on itself or the pilots. A Cougar army helicopter was sent to rescue to the police chopper was also shot but not seriously damaged.
The Democrats say that Kodheli should be held accountable for such damages and she should resign from the post and be prosecuted.
The ministry has responded saying that authorities are set on fighting organized crime and drug trafficking using all the state’s resources.
They referred to hundreds of thousands of cannabis plants sequestered and burnt and other tons ready to be trafficked.
The ministry said it considered the accusations as unfair, and urged the opposition to support police in the war on crime and drugs.
In response the ministry also mentioned that its defense ministry helicopters had been used when the Democrats were in power — even for private cases.
Government-friendly media outlets went on to publish stories about a case when the Democratic Party government had allowed the army helicopters to be used to make a music video for a pop star.
Albania, a NATO member since 2009, has no fixed-winged aircraft, but it relies on a small fleet of helicopters, most of which are recent purchases from France.
The country spent 78 million euros for five military helicopters produced by Eurocopter in 2010. The helicopters are Cougar AS532, a military version of the SuperPuma helicopter family. When purchased, the government said they would be used to transport troops in combat, search and rescue operations, medical transport as well as moving state VIPs.