200 Kilos of Cocaine Seized in Albania

22.3.2011 by ctstmaser.

22 Mar 2011 / 17:33

An international investigation by prosecutors in Belgium, Spain and Albania has led to the arrest of several suspects and the confiscation of 200 kilograms of cocaine in Albania.

Besar Likmeta

Tirana

Albania General Prosecutor Ina Rama | Photo by : Besar Likmeta

Sources inside the office of Albanian General Prosecutor Ina Rama told Balkan Insight that the arrests made in southern Albania came “after the controlled delivery of the drugs, which were intercepted in Spain.”

Police put a GPS device on the truck in Spain to track the transport of the drugs and their delivery in Albania, where they were seized in the largest cocaine bust ever seen in the country.

The police operation and the seizure of the record quantity of cocaine comes amid growing cooperation between Albania’s general prosecutor’s office and counterparts in several EU countries, which has led to the seizure of several shipments of cocaine from South America in the past year.

In November eight kilos of cocaine from Bolivia were intercepted in the port of Durres, and five suspects were arrested.

The United Nations Office on Drug and Crimes, UNODC, in its 2011 report expressed increased concern about the passage of cocaine along Balkan smuggling routes.

According to the report, while most cocaine shipments from South America continue to be directed towards Western Europe, shipments to East European and Balkan countries are now being detected.

“This raises concerns about the development of new trafficking routes and/or the incorporation of cocaine into the range of products offered by traditional heroin trafficking groups operating along the Balkan route,” the report says.

Cocaine shipments via the Black Sea to Romania and via the Adriatic Sea to Montenegro have been observed in particular.

“The smugglers knowingly use the corruption, instability and institutional problems of some Balkan states,” says the report. “The best way to fight this phenomenon is improving the legal system and fight against corruption,” it added.

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