Albanian police have seized
over 800 kg of marijuana destined for Italy, sources said
Wednesday.
The seizure was carried out on the beach at Valona
approximately 150 km soith of the capital Tirana.
Police officers initially found a small quantity of
marijuana hidden in a van before sighting a rubber dinghy
pulling out to sea.
Albanian and Italian police chased the vessel, which was
subsequently found abandoned on Valona beach together with five
bags containing the drug wrapped in small packages.
Van owner Alban Koshi, 48, was arrested and police are now
searching for the owner of the dinghy, Robert Myftari, 42.
Over 1.7 tonnes of marijuana destined for Italy were seized
in Albania in two separate operations in October.
Albanian authorities identified more than 44 hectares of
marijuana plantations over the summer with the assistance of
special Italian finance police reconnaissance flights.
Over 700,000 plants were destroyed.
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