4 police officers in Shkodër were suspended from duty for not reporting cases of cultivation of narcotic plants in the area of Velipoja. The head of the Velipojë police station, together with the head of territory control, the crime investigation specialist and a police inspector are accused by the Directorate of Professional Standards in the State Police of having allowed the cultivation of narcotic plants, on a large area, in the territory of Velipoja, where 10,920 suspected cannabis sativa narcotic plants were discovered.
This is the second case within the last three months when Shkodra police officers have been suspended from duty and investigated by the prosecution under the suspicion of favoring the cultivation of narcotic plants. At the end of June, 13 Shkodra police officers were suspended, including the Deputy Director for Crime Investigation together with the head of the crime investigation section. They were accused that, in cooperation, they have favored the cultivation of narcotic plants in the Ana e Mali area.
Cultivation and trafficking of narcotic plants in most cases takes place with the knowledge or protection of local police officers or leaders, which is also evidenced by the numerous plots that are being discovered not only in the deep mountainous areas, but also in the vicinity of the city of Shkodra, on the Mountain side or Velipoja.
At the beginning of September, during the coded operation “Fly”, 12,831 narcotic plants, suspected to be cannabis sativa, were discovered in the deep mountainous area of Dukagjin. While on August 4, during the police operation “Clean Alps”, in Shkodër, Pukë, Vau Dejës and Malësi e Madhe, 15,395 narcotic plants were discovered and destroyed by burning. But this is only what the police forces have managed to discover. Local sources speak of several times larger quantities of narcotic plants, cultivated this year in Shkodër, Pukë, Fushë Arrëz, Vau Dejës or Malësi e Madhe.
This year, the phenomenon of the cultivation of narcotic plants took off during the election campaign period for the May 24 local elections, when a large part of the police force was engaged in the smooth running of the election activities. This left free space for the cultivators to easily expand their activities in the areas left out of police control.
Since the beginning of this year, according to the police, 289,357 cannabis sativa narcotic plants, of which 41,713 cannabis plants, have been discovered and destroyed throughout the country. While 202 perpetrators have been identified, of which 111 have been arrested, 63 are wanted, 29 with other security measures.