Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Albanian police uncover drug ring in Switzerland

Seizures of cannabis in 2000 were up by more than 450 per cent on the previous year Keystone Archive

Albanian police say they have smashed a drug smuggling ring that used Switzerland as a major operational base for selling hard substances such as heroin.

Police sources in the Albanian capital, Tirana, attributed their success in arresting three smuggling suspects to close cooperation with Swiss police authorities. They said the three are suspected of laundering money in the capital.

Justice and Police department spokesman, Viktor Schlumpf, was unable to confirm the information.

The smugglers are believed to have amassed SFr4 million and laundered their profits in Albania.

Albania is considered to lie at the heart of the drug trade between East and West.

Drugs from Turkey were smuggled into Switzerland after transiting Albania and Italy.

swissinfo with agencies

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR