On Tuesday, the head of the Italian Police, Franco Gabrielle had a meeting with Albanian counterpart Ardi Veliu in the Italian Ministry of the Interior.
The meeting focused on addressing strategic issues and the fulfillment of common objectives between two countries.
One of the topics discussed was the identification and destruction of cannabis crops and maritime surveillance services to combat illegal trafficking. The Albanian authorities aim to perform air surveillance in the Albanian territory, in cooperation with the Guardia di Finanza.
The surveillance will serve to find out where cannabis is cultivated but also to detect cases of trafficking at the maritime border.
Both parties signed a new operating protocol that will replace the previous one from 2012. The meeting was mostly of a technical and operational nature. Similar meetings will be held every month.
The meeting was also attended by the Italian Ambassador to Albania, Fabrizzio Bucci, the Albanian Ambassador to Italy, Anila Bitri, and the Deputy Minister of Interior Julian Hodaj.
The meeting will serve as a step towards “further enhancing co-operation”, authorities said.
