Albania and Montenegro destroy 11,358 cannabis plants in first joint operation
Albanian and Montenegrin police destroyed 11,358 cannabis plants in Kelmend near the border and arrested a Shkodër man caught at the site with two unlicensed firearms. It was presented as the two forces' first joint anti-cannabis operation.
Albanian and Montenegrin police destroyed 11,358 cannabis plants in the Kelmend area of Malësi e Madhe, on Albania’s border with Montenegro, in an operation the two forces presented as their first joint action against cannabis.[1][2]A man from Shkodër caught red-handed at the site was arrested, and officers seized a firearm with ammunition and a shotgun, both held without a permit.[1][2]The plants were spread across three parcels in difficult mountain terrain.[2]
A joint press conference
Officers from Shkodër and Podgorica and anti-drug units from both countries took part, and the result was announced at a joint press conference.[2]Montenegro’s deputy police director said joint operations with Albania against drug trafficking would continue, describing cross-border criminal groups as profit-driven and both police forces as reliable partners.[2]Shkodër’s police director said cannabis cultivation in the county had fallen, though Shkodër remained on the red map.[2]
Police said 229,000 cannabis plants had been destroyed across Albania since January.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Arrested
1
Plants destroyed
11,358
Agency type
Police
Cannabis
Living plants (11,358 plants)
Activity
Trafficking, Cultivation
Setting
Mail or parcel
Case stage
Under investigation
Sources
Bota Sot Newsbotasot.alSQPolicia e Shtetit operacion anti drogë me Malin e Zi/ Kultivonte kanabis, arrestohet 27-vjeçari në Shkodër, asgjesohen mbi 11 mijë bimë dhe…
Bota Sot Newsbotasot.alSQOperacioni shqiptaro-malazez “Bjeshkët”: Mbi 11 mijë rrënjë kanabisi të asgjësuara, arrestohet 28-vjeçari me dy armë
Open questions the AI reported
One report gives the detained man's age as 27 and the other as 28; the report records the arrest without settling the age.
No figure for the area cleared was published, only that the plants stood in three parcels.
Albanian police arrested, detained or prosecuted 165 people over cannabis cultivation in 2026 and destroyed 171,566 plants in 593 cases, plus 132,000 seedlings before planting. Presenting the 2026 campaign results with Italy's Guardia di Finanza on 10 November, authorities also reported 17 indoor cases and 89 officials prosecuted for abuse of office.
On 20 June 2026 police in Malësi e Madhe burned 306 suspected cannabis plants in Ivanaj and arrested two men at the plot, N. Z., 40, and K. P., 43. The file went to the Shkodër prosecutor.
Interior Minister Taulant Balla said police arrested or proceeded against 25 people and destroyed 11,729 cannabis plants during October 2023 under the national Operation Focus. Indoor cultivation sites were also uncovered during the month.
Albanian police said on 7 October 2016 they had destroyed 2.4 million cannabis plants on 219 hectares since June, four times the 2015 total, arresting 248 people in 1,260 operations supported by Italian aerial surveillance.
