TIRANA, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Some 4.5 tons of cannabis sativa were seized by Albanian police in a village in Vlora, a coastal city in southern Albania, authorities said Thursday.
"The police operation began late Wednesday when about 100 police officers of Tirana special unit, prosecutors of the General Prosecution Office, officers of the Delta Force and Vlora anti-drugs unit went to Babica Vogel village in Vlora," Rebani Jaupi, a senior police officer told reporters.
Authorities also informed that they arrested three people as directly involved in drug cultivation and trafficking.
Meanwhile, the prosecutor-general's office said in a statement Thursday that the "considerable" haul followed a yearlong investigation and was related to the recent arrest of drug traffickers in Italy.
Albanian authorities have this year made a series of seizures of cannabis in remote areas along the coast or on speedboats. Prime Minister Edi Rama has pledged to get Albania off the list of cannabis-producing countries by the end of this year.
