Authorities confiscated 54 tons of cannabis and arrested 29 people in five-day raid that saw fierce battles between gangs and law enforcement.
GJIROKASTER, June 25 – Police have successfully completed a five-day raid in Lazarat, taking full control the formerly lawless southern Albanian village, netting huge amounts of marijuana and heavy weapons, and showing the government’s determination to tackle drug gangs.
About 800 police officers besieged Lazarat for several days, coming under fire from gangs with guns, rocket-propelled grenades and even mortars before being able to finally move in and take over and search every building.
By Wednesday, police had arrested 29 people and confiscated more than 54 tons of marijuana. Police were in full control of the village and continued to have a heavy presence.
One policeman and three villagers were injured during the battle, but there were no casualties.
“State police destroyed the 20-year-old taboo in this crime area that had declared itself ‘a separate republic’ and become a mark of shame for Albania,” Prime Minister Edi Rama said, following the end of the police operation.
Rama’s nine-month-old government has declared its determination to tackle the drug gangs as part of the country’s efforts to gain candidate status for entry into the European Union, which had been rejected three times previously before being approved this week, following the raid.
Cannabis cache goes up in smoke
Smoke from burning marijuana hung above the village last Friday, the first day without gunfire since the raid began the previous Sunday.
Plumes of pungent pot smoke rose above the small but prosperous Albanian village of Lazarat for days as police sought to drive out the gangs that have turned it into Europe’s largest illegal marijuana producer.
Local residents themselves also burnt uncounted other tons of cannabis fearing prosecution.
“What could we do? Everybody planted cannabis here,” said an elderly woman, who refused to give her name for fear of prosecution.
Set in a green plain overlooked by high hills, this sprawling village of about 5,000 has flashy cars and expensive homes dotting the village.
The marijuana-farming has grown constantly since then, encouraged by strong demand in neighboring Greece and Italy. Albania itself has become a major transit point for other drugs coming in to Europe from Asia and Latin America.
Authorities said they had destroyed 54 tons of marijuana prepared to be sold or in about 133,000 plants and five processing laboratories after searching almost 600 houses and other buildings.
Police said they also seized 31 heavy weapons, almost 300 light weapons, tens of thousands of ammunition rounds and scores of rocket-propelled grenades.
Gangs based in Lazarat, 230 kilometers south of Tirana, were believed to produce about 900 metric tons of cannabis a year, worth about 4.5 billion euros – just under half of the country’s GDP, according to the Interior Ministry, which revealed the figure last summer in a press conference with Italian counterparts that had helped Albanian authorities evaluate the cannabis-planted areas of the country.
Lazarat grabbed international attention 10 years ago when villagers shot at an Italian police helicopter helping Albanian authorities photograph marijuana plantations.
Raid was years in the making
Authorities in Albania had for years decided to leave the drug gangs pretty much to their own devices, as police visits tended to be met with gunfire and authorities were afraid of massive loss of life both on the police and civilian ranks.
Former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, who is now a member of parliament for the main opposition Democratic Party, acknowledged that he had on purpose decided not to enter the village by force but rather to try to persuade villagers to give up the trade and hoping for good results in lowering the amount of cannabis planted over the years.
The Democrats are more popular than the Socialists in the area, and the central-right party controls the local municipal government. Albeit democratically-elected and part of the state structures, local municipal leaders have said they were unable to control the criminal elements in the village. However, police now want to bring charges against Lazarat Mayor Dasho Aliko for not doing more to help police.
The new Socialist government came to power last year aiming to stamp out the marijuana economy as it keeps trying to seek membership in the European Union. The country’s application for candidate member status in the 28-nation bloc had been turned down three times, with organized crime and corruption always cited as a stumbling block.
The government said it launched its ambitious effort to stamp out marijuana production with hundreds of police officers who were deployed this week to Lazarat as part of a nationwide anti-drug operation.
They were met by dozens of heavily armed men firing rocket-propelled grenades, mortar shells and heavy machine gunfire.
Police and the Interior Ministry urged residents to stay indoors and warned others to stay away from the area.
“Police are targeting a very well-structured and organized criminal group that is keeping the village in its claws,” State Police Chief Artan Didi told reporters.
The alleged gang leader, Gate Mahmutaj, surrendered to police after protracted negotiations, authorities said in a statement.
Many of the weapons found by police date back to an uprising in 1997. It led to the extensive looting of military installations, flooding Albania with weapons.
The ruling Socialists say Lazarat – politically, a Democratic Party stronghold — previously had benefited from links with the country’s political elite.
“Time is over for the links of the world of crime in Lazarat with parliament, with politics, with those they exploited,” said Interior Minister Saimir Tahiri. “What you are seeing today is the best example of our determination to install the rule of law in every corner of Albania.”
Law enforcement officials have decided to open a new police station in Lazarat so that they keep the area under control.
