Albania Arrests 27 Over Drug Trafficking

Tirana, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Oct, 2018 ) :Albanian police said Monday they have arrested 27 people in an operation to dismantle an international ring of traffickers of heroine and cocaine to European Union countries.

"Police ... were still looking for four other people, including two Turkish nationals," police spokesman Gentian Mullai told AFP.

The prosecutor's office for serious crime said that suspected members of criminal gangs "conducted their activities in different European countries, being closely linked to other criminal organisations." They are also suspected of being involved in criminal activities linked to money-laundering in Albania, it said in a statement.

In the operation arms and a "considerable amount of heroine and cocaine" were seized, police said in a statement, without giving further details.

Meanwhile, Albanian police also reported Monday the arrest of 13 other people, including two police officers and two former MPs of the ruling Socialist Party, for suspected corruption and abuse of power in a separate investigation.

They included Arben Cuko, a former head of the prison department who was sacked in September over alleged corruption and former deputy Arben Ndoka, suspected of being involved in falsifying documents for the sale of public land.

According to the prosecutor's office, the Names of the two MPs were mentioned in phone conversations that were wiretapped by the investigators for months.

A NATO member since 2009 and a candidate for EU membership, Albania has been under strong pressure from Brussels to fight organised crime and corruption, particularly drug trafficking.

Former interior minister Saimir Tahiri has been under investigation for international trafficking of cannabis.

Last week the prosecutor's office extended the probe against him for three more months.