Authorities tighten noose on no-go village at the height of harvest season
GJIROKASTER, Aug. 14 – Police in the southern Albanian city of Gjirokaster say they are taking new measures to curb the cultivation of the marijuana in the village of Lazarat, a no-go area for police who want to avoid an armed confrontation with the villagers and where authorities believe a massive amount of the drug is grown.
In the early hours of Wednesday morning police, detained about 50 employees from different regions of the country who had traveled to the village to harvest the marijuana. Police also destroyed a water line believed to be used in the cultivation of the drugs.
Police said no one was charged, but said that many of the workers were questioned about their activities in the village. One worker confirmed to local media he worked in Lazarat yearly.
“We are not proud of what we do, but it is the only way we have to make a living,” he told a local television station on the condition of anonymity.
The police operation came as recent air surveillance by authorities revealed a staggering amount of marijuana plants being grown in what has been dubbed Albania’s “drugs capital,” a village located in the outskirts of Gjirokaster.
Police said the air surveillance showed 319 hectares of cultivated cannabis, which is equal to several football fields, around 900 tons of finished product can be produced. “In the European market, at a price of 5 euros per gram, that amount would be worth 4.5 billion euros,” said Stefano Bastoni, the head of the Italian police unit brought in to help Albanian police.
The village of Lazarat, that for years has served as the symbol of cultivation of marijuana in Albania, and often seen as a no-go area for Albanian police, which have often clashed with its armed inhabitants. In order to avoid a confrontation that could cost lives, Albanian authorities have switched to policing what comes in and out of the village.
According to the police, Lazarat residents shoot in the air to intimidate police and have placed armed men in the mountains surrounding the village to warn those inside of police actions.
Albanian authorities also worry about other parts of Albania, however. The air surveillance revealed other growing operations, including near Tirana.
Authorities say the drugs are destined for Western Europe, but a lot of it is being destroyed in the fields or caught before it leaves Albania.
