Albanian police seize 2.3 tonnes of drugs in southern coastal regions

The Albanian police announced Wednesday that they on Tuesday seized one tonne of hashish in the coast of Karaburun, south Albania.

Police found the drugs around 100 meters away from the shore, which were divided in 96 packages of different sizes.

This came only few days after police of Vlora seized 1.3 tonnes of cannabis near the Zvernec area that was ready to be smuggled to Italy. Officers inspected two vehicles and found the drugs in 52 small plastic packages divided in ten sport bags.

Albanian authorities launched in February a nationwide operation to find and destroy cannabis plantations.

A police statement said 3,100 officers have been deployed around the country checking greenhouses, old army depots and tunnels or abandoned houses where cannabis seeds and small plants may have been hidden.

Last year, Albanian authorities destroyed about 2.5 million marijuana plants, four times more than the year before while many tonnes of cannabis were seized at border crossing points or from boats bound for neighboring Italy or Greece.

Source: Xinhua