Police destroy marijuana plants in Lazarat

TIRANA, Aug. 21 – Albanian police destroyed more than 2,300 marijuana plants in the southern village of Lazarat in what seemed to be the first great operation in the village. Police found the plants in different parcels and abandoned houses in Lazarat, about 20 kilometers from the checkpoint of Kakavie, on the border with Greece. But no arrests had been made. Lazarat has been an untouched area for police. Two years ago an Italian helicopter checking the area on cannabis plants was shot from allegedly local residents. One of them was arrested much later. Post-communist Albania has become a frequent transit point for smugglers taking people, drugs and weapons into the European Union because of its lax border controls, weak judiciary and corrupt police force. The international community has told Albania it must curb trafficking if it wants to join the EU and NATO.