Albanian police

Albanian police arrested former Socialist Party MPs Arben Ndoka and Arben Cuko plus several other people in a series of operations against organised crime suspects on Sunday, with Prime Minister Edi Rama stating that no one is above the law.

Albanian police have seized 25 religious icons and 37 old coins they suspect were stolen in neighboring Greece to be sold on the black market.

A national police statement issued Friday said police arrested two people and found the icons and coins at the suspects' homes on Thursday. The statement says the items were to be sold for 3,000 euros ($3,500.)

Albanian police report that 17 suspects have been arrested for allegedly being part of an international crime ring that issues fake identity documents to help people enter United States, Canada and Britain illegally.

Albanian police arrested 39 people on Saturday, including four police officers, on charges of having smuggled 1,000 Albanians to Britain, the United States and Canada, and they were looking for a dozen others, including two Bulgarians.

It was a fine day for Albanian's embattled police - whose image was badly tarnished reports of close connections between senior police officers and drug-lords last year.

An investigation that lasted about two weeks ended on Wednesday with police seizing a record quantity of Colombian cocaine.

Albanian police chief Ardi Veliu on Wednesday said police had found more than 613 kilos of pure heroin hidden in a banana container from Colombia.

The drugs were transited through Malta and Italy before arriving at their destination, a fruit and vegetable trader in Albania, called Arbri Garden.

Albanian police have seized 1.7 tons of marijuana on a deserted boat in the Adriatic Sea, Albanian media reported on Wednesday.

The smugglers left the rubber boat, loaded with the drugs, near the port of Vlore and fled, the Albanian police said.

The boat was abandoned most likely due to a malfunction of the engine, RTS reported, citing the website Panorama.

Speaking in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday, the Albanian prime minister said this could happen "under the assumption that Serbia recognizes Kosovo."

"This is a performance-based process. Serbia has advantage because it is already negotiating and we hope to start negotiations this year," Rama said.

The smugglers left the rubber boat, loaded with the drugs, near the port of Vlore and fled, the Albanian police said.

The boat was abandoned most likely due to a malfunction of the engine, RTS reported, citing the website Panorama.

Speaking at a panel organized by the American Enterprise Institute, this official, often publicly presented as a person of US President Donald Trump's "utmost trust," mentioned the former state as an example of "threats coming from nation states."