Albania Struggles to Prevent Drugs Traffic by Air

After a suspicious plane was spotted near the coast, experts say Albania must unite its law enforcement forces, work with its neighbours and improve its detecting technology to stop drugs traffickers from using small planes.



Police authorities in Albania in collaboration with Italian counterparts have opened an investigation into drugs trafficking after a small plane was spotted on Sunday flying over fields near Vlora a few miles from the sea.
Three suspects were later questioned by the Vlora police, although the plane and its pilot are still unidentified.
On Tuesday, police sources told BIRN that the suspects were not involved in the case but investigations in collaboration with Italian forces were continuing.
Concern is growing that small planes are being used to transport narcotics from Albania to Italy or to other countries nearby.
In May 2014, police arrested an Italian pilot, Giorgio Riformato, and an Albanian, Saimir Bajramaj, after their attempt to traffic marijuana to Italy in a small plane went wrong. The one engine plane crash-landed in Divjaka, in southern Albania.
After the incident, citizens living in seaside areas said they had seen other small planes roaming in the skies without knowing that this was a new form of drug trafficking.
On January 2015, a pilot from the Albanian armed forces, Major Sokol Feka, lost his life after his small plane lost control while he was trafficking narcotics from Morocco to Spain.
Former police vice-director and Socialist MP Pjerin Ndreu told BIRN that the Albanian authorities need to unite and collaborate in order to stop the trade.
"The police should join forces with the army and secret service and pinpoint the risks areas in order to prevent episodes like this," he said.
"Now that it is becoming difficult to traffic narcotics through ferries and land borders, criminal organisations will try other different ways and routes," Ndreu said.
Success in the fight will also depend on Albania's collaboration with European counterparts, he added.
"It is important to closely collaborate with other European countries that are touched by this traffic in order to answer questions - where are the operations organised, which people are included, how do they secure the planes? - and much more," he advised.
Former defence minister and security expert Luan Hajdaraga told BIRN that besides collaborating on information, Italy and Albania should also share technology in order to track small planes.
"The Albanian border police must be equipped with the latest technology so that they can detect even small planes flying very low. Italy, as the main country touched directly by the traffic coming from Albania, should help in this," Hajdaraga said.
He believes that advanced technology could be the best way to prevent the illegal trade from developing.

(culled from www.balkaninsight.com)