Suspected Drug Trafficker Crash-Lands Plane in Albania

The Albanian Ministry of Interior said the pilot of the plane, Girgio Riformato, had been arrested after he crash-landed his single-engine Piper on Sunday on the beach at Divjaka, 50 kilometres south of Tirana.

In the same area, police also arrested an Albanian, Saimir Bajramaj, after they found 460 kilograms of marijuana and €27,000 in his vehicle.

Details of the ongoing investigation suggest that the drugs found in Bajramaj’s possession were to be loaded on to the plane on the orders of traffickers and sent to Italy.

Albania is a major cannabis producing country. According to the Italian financial police, more than 900 tons of marijuana were produced last year in the outlaw village of Lazarat in southern Albania alone.

The head of opposition Democratic Party, Lulzim Basha, on Saturday accused the centre-left government of being in league with the traffickers. “The government has become one with the drug traffickers,” he said.

Prime Minister Edi Rama rejected the accusations. “The anti-drug operation is further proof that state is being fast rebuilt and the police are on top of their duties,” Rama wrote on Twitter.

“During our time in government the largest quantity of drugs and criminal suspects have been busted,” he added.