Medical cannabis

“The issue of organized crime is delicate as it affects the image that politicians and the public have of Albania in EU member states," Gledis Gjipali, director of the European Movement in Albania, a Tirana-based think tank, said.

Using helicopters, elite special forces units from the Ministry of Interior have landed in the center of Lazarat, taking over a building from which the police say they were being fired on with anti-aircraft guns.

More than 1,000 police officers were involved in the operation on Thursday.

Albanian special forces units using armoured vehicles combed through the village of Lazarat on Tuesday, while drug traffickers shot back, attempting to halt the crackdown on their cannabis-growing operations.

One police officer and two shepherds were wounded as authorities tightened their grip on a village that has become synonymous with uncontrolled crime.

Police come under fire in Albanian drug village

TIRANA -- A clash between the police and "cannabis growers" in the village of Lazarat in Albania has resulted in six arrests and the wounding of one policeman.

The Albanian media report that the police "are not giving up and continue the operation in Lazarat," which began on Sunday night.

Police said on Wednesday that they arrested six men for drug possession and dealing in Attica.

Two 25-year-olds were caught in Peristeri, western Athens, in possession of a small amount of cannabis.

Another man was arrested in Monastiraki Square, where he was attempting to sell methamphetamine.

A 43-year-old was arrested in Palaio Faliro while in possession of cannabis.

Police in Aigio near the western port of Patra were on Thursday questioning a 25-year-old man found with 85 kilograms of cannabis in his car.

The motorist refused to stop for police on the Athens-Patra national highway, prompting officers to give chase.

When they managed to corner the suspect, they found 80 packages of cannabis hidden in the vehicle.

Six suspects have been arrested, authorities in Serres, northeastern Greece, said on Monday as police cracked down on a Greek-Albanian criminal drugs racket.

Police said they are looking for another four suspects, including an Albanian national believed to be the leader of the organization.

The plenary session of the Council of State, the country’s highest administrative court, on Thursday upheld an appeal lodged by the owner of the nationwide chain Kannabishop, which sells clothes, bags and other items made of hemp, a derivative of the cannabis plant, and granted him 14,673 euros in compensation for moral damage after a police crackdown on his business.

A photograph of the inside of the truck, released by Greek Police headquarters.

The Greek police on Monday issued an announcement hailing the narcotics squad’s biggest cannabis bust ever after a 700 kilograms of the drug was found inside a concealed compartment in a truck that had entered Greece from Albania and is believed to have been headed to Germany.

2 tons of cannabis seized in Albania

VLORE -- The Albanian police on Thursday confiscated two tons of cannabis and arrested two suspects.

The drugs were seized in the port town of Vlore, and were meant to be sold in Italy.

According to the police, the shipment was hidden inside a vehicle that was to be transported to Italy in a dinghy.