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- Hundreds of Albanian police, backed by armored vehicles, stormed lawless southern village of Lazrat
- marijuana growers allegedly fired rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and machine guns at officers during a drug raid
- Gangs based in Lazarat are believed to produce about 900 metric tons of cannabis a year
Hundreds of Albanian police, backed by armoured vehicles, stormed a lawless southern village after suspected marijuana growers allegedly fired rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and machine guns at officers during a drug raid.
Four people - a policeman and three villagers - have been hurt so far, suffering light gunshot injuries in the hostilities in and around Lazarat, a major marijuana-producing centre 230 kilometres (140 miles) south of the capital, Tirana, on Monday and Tuesday.
Gangs based in Lazarat are believed to produce about 900 metric tons of cannabis a year, worth about 4.5 billion euros (£3.5 billion/ $6.1 billion) - roughly half of the small Balkan country's GDP.
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Hundreds of Albanian police, backed by armoured vehicles, stormed a lawless southern village after suspected marijuana growers allegedly fired rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and machine guns at officers during a drug raid
Smoke rises from Lazarat village as villagers burn their cannabis ahead of the police raid earlier this week
Police said no-one was hurt in the hostilities in and around Lazarat, a major marijuana-producing center 230 kilometres (140 miles) south of the capital, Tirana, on Monday
Gangs based in Lazarat are believed to produce about 900 metric tons of cannabis a year, worth about 4.5 billion euros (£3.5 billion/ $6.1 billion) ¿ roughly half of the small Balkan country's GDP
Over the past few weeks, Albanian authorities have launched a nationwide operation to uproot the cannabis plantations.
A police spokeswoman said officers took control of the village Monday after exchanging fire with nearly 30 armed men hiding in a four-story building complex.
Spokeswoman Laura Totraku said the gunmen fled Lazarat and headed for a nearby mountain, pursued by police.
But more than three hours later, sporadic gunfire was still heard in the village.
Over the past few weeks, Albanian authorities have launched a nationwide operation to uproot the cannabis plantations
Authorities advised residents to stay indoors, while scores of police in body armor guarded the entrances to Lazarat
Authorities advised residents to stay indoors, while scores of police in body armour guarded the entrances to Lazarat.
Interior Minister Saimir Tahiri urged the gunmen to disarm and surrender.
Police destroyed seven plots with some 10,000 cannabis plants and 1,000 young trees ready to be planted.
They also found six burnt barrels believed to have stored previously collected drugs and 'other considerable amounts of unpacked narcotics.'
Albania's private A1 channel said its TV crew covering the Lazarat operation was robbed at gunpoint by masked men who also burnt their vehicle.
On the second day of operations Tuesday, police numbers were reinforced to 800 and officers took control of about a quarter of the village, seizing 'considerable quantities' of marijuana and ammunition, as well as drug-processing machinery.
Amid near-continuous gunfire, they also destroyed 11,000 cannabis plants, and were planning to gingerly advance into gang-defended areas.
Marijuana-growing gangs in the village have long seen themselves as beyond the reach of the law. In 2004, shots from the village forced an Italian drug-spotting helicopter to make a hasty retreat.
Until ten years ago, Lazarat was a regular farming community.
Now the village in southern Albania is Europe's biggest illegal marijuana producer, raking in billions of euros every year from the plants openly cultivated in fields and house gardens.
On the second day of operations Tuesday, police numbers were reinforced to 800 and officers took control of about a quarter of the village, seizing 'considerable quantities' of marijuana and ammunition, as well as drug-processing machinery
Police chief Artan Didi told reporters in Tirana that police were targeting a 'very well-structured and organized criminal group that is keeping the village in its claws.'
Interior Minister Saimir Tahiri vowed to persist until 'every square centimetre in Lazarat is under state control.'
According to the Socialists, Lazarat — a stronghold of the former ruling Democratic party — previously benefited from links with the political elite.
'Time is over for the links of the world of crime in Lazarat with parliament, with politics, with those they exploited until yesterday,' Tahiri said. 'What you are seeing today is the best example of our determination to install the rule of law in every corner of Albania.'
Police chief Artan Didi told reporters in Tirana that police were targeting a 'very well-structured and organized criminal group that is keeping the village in its claws'
Interior Minister Saimir Tahiri vowed to persist until 'every square centimetre in Lazarat is under state control'
Change has come with the new Socialist government, which came into power last year with a clear aim to stamp out the marijuana economy and persist with efforts to seek Albanian membership in European Union
Previously, authorities left the drug gangs pretty much to their own devices, as police visits tended to be met with gunfire
The Democrats issued a statement saying that, while they support anti-drugs operations, the government's response was too heavy-handed and 'exerts psychological terror on the civilian population.'
Albania, a small mountainous country on the Adriatic coast opposite Italy, has just over 3 million people. It was for decades Europe's most isolated country until a student uprising toppled the communist regime in 1990 and Albanians emigrated en masse to Greece, Italy and other western countries.
Another uprising in 1997 led to the extensive looting of military installations, flooding Albania with weaponry, most of which is still unaccounted for. Lazarat's access to the underground depots dates to that period.
'We are afraid that if we enter (the village) and respond to the shooting, we may cause casualties,' a special police officer dressed in camouflage and wearing a bulletproof vest told an Associated Press photographer at the scene. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not officially authorized to speak to the media.
'Moreover, (they) have all the weapons and equipment we have,' he said.
Marijuana-growing gangs in the village have long seen themselves as beyond the reach of the law. In 2004, shots from the village forced an Italian drug-spotting helicopter to make a hasty retreat
The Democrats issued a statement saying that, while they support anti-drugs operations, the government's response was too heavy-handed and 'exerts psychological terror on the civilian population'
Albania, a small mountainous country on the Adriatic coast opposite Italy, has just over 3 million people. It was for decades Europe's most isolated country until a student uprising toppled the communist regime in 1990 and Albanians emigrated en masse to Greece, Italy and other western countries
Another uprising in 1997 led to the extensive looting of military installations, flooding Albania with weaponry, most of which is still unaccounted for. Lazarat's access to the underground depots dates to that period
Police destroyed seven plots with some 10,000 cannabis plants and 1,000 young trees ready to be planted
A police spokeswoman said officers took control of the village Monday after exchanging fire with nearly 30 armed men hiding in a four-story building complex
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2658903/Albanian-police-storm-lawless-marijuana-village.html#ixzz3xXOigjbP
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