Italy seizes four tonnes of Albanian cannabis from yacht on high seas
Italian police seized about four tonnes of cannabis from a luxury yacht on the high seas in the week of 7 September 2017, arresting three Albanians on board. Albanian police said the yacht never entered Albanian waters and the load was probably ferried out in international waters by a boat that left the northern coast.
Italian authorities seized about four tonnes of marijuana from a luxury yacht
on the high seas in the first week of September 2017.[1]Three Albanians
were caught on board with the drugs.[1]Albanian police said the yacht had
never entered Albanian waters, and sources told local media the cannabis was
probably brought out to the yacht in international waters by another vessel
that had left the northern Albanian coast.[1]
Tirana Times describes the haul as part of continuing massive seizures of
Albania-grown marijuana by police in neighbouring countries and in Albania
itself.[1]The paper says traffickers appear to be shifting routes, moving
loads through Montenegrin or Croatian waters after heavier policing of the
direct Albania-Italy crossing.[1]The find sparked a dispute between
Albania’s police chief, who said navy radar at Durres was not working
properly, and the defence ministry, which said the radar systems were fully
functional.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Carabinieri of the Gorizia company found a 37-year-old man smoking a joint on the second floor of the disused Albero alla Transalpina in via Giuseppe Caprin on 10 November 2026 and seized more than two grams of marijuana. The man was taken to the company offices and reported to the Prefecture of Gorizia for possession of drugs for personal use; no arrest was reported.
Guardia di Finanza officers stopped a car in Lario Intelvese and recovered 21.2 grams of hashish thrown away by one of five youths. The youth was reported to the judicial authority for possession for dealing and the drugs were seized.
Carabinieri from the Donori station stopped two unemployed 20-year-olds from Ussana in a car and found a small amount of hashish and a packet of benzodiazepine medicines without a prescription. The pair were reported to the administrative authority and the driver lost his licence; nobody was arrested.
Carabinieri stopped a 35-year-old from Rieti at a checkpoint on State Road 4 Salaria by the disused ex Bosi industrial area in Cittaducale and found about 12 grams of hashish, a precision scale and packaging material in his car and home. He was released pending trial and reported to the prosecutor in Rieti on suspicion of holding drugs for sale.
