After the discovery of the opium field, police intensify investigations Anti-narcotics dogs sought in Italy TIRANA — The Albanian Police considers it necessary to organize itself seriously against drugs. It even needs to seek help from Europe and Italy. A trafficker sentenced in Durrës to 10 years’ imprisonment after being arrested while selling a quantity of heroin to a serviceman from Operation “Pellicano”; information that Albania is trying to become a transit country for moving drugs from East to West; and, most recently, the discovery near Fier of a field planted with the opium-producing plant which, after processing, yields heroin — these are all signs of a new alarm for the Albanian Police. Not to mention the current users of petidine, who have by now practically become legal. “Albanian specialists have asked their Italian counterparts for anti-drug dogs or pigs as well,” officials at the Ministry of Public Order say. This is still an unresolved issue, since these “clever animals” also require special treatment. Dogs or pigs must be regularly fed drugs, and the narcotic is withdrawn only shortly before an operation to detect drugs. Thus, driven by the need to use drugs, these animals will know how to find them in traffickers’ bags or luggage, even when the traffickers might otherwise evade the strictest police checks. But traffickers and users are not all that the Albanian Police must fight. The alarm from Fier, where a field planted with the plant that produces opium was recently found, is even more serious. “I saw the plot myself,” Gramoz Dyrmishi, a Criminal Police officer, tells Gazeta. “It covered an area of 12 square metres. The plants were withering and almost fallen to the ground. But there were a few plants like these in other places too.” The results of analyses of this plant, carried out in Tirana, showed that it was opium. “Our specialists say that the plant’s pod must be cut into four pieces,” Dyrmishi continues, “and then processed in a laboratory. According to them, this plant may grow again next March.” Italian drug-detection dogs: the Albanian police have also made a request

TIRANA — (p.re.) What is the opium plant used for? The opium poppy is a flower cultivated extensively in India, Turkey and some areas of Greece. A milky, white liquid is extracted from the flower, yielding a narcotic substance called morphine. Four cubic centimetres of liquid can be extracted from each poppy bud. Morphine can undergo a chemical process, which can also be carried out by artisanal means, at the end of which heroin is obtained. The quality of this heroin (called brown sugar because of its characteristic brown colour) is not prized precisely because it is only lightly refined, but it fetches a very high price on Western drug markets. Opium poppy cultivation has also been discovered in Puglia: this plant needs a Mediterranean climate to grow. Another narcotic plant widely found in Italy, Greece and Turkey is Indian hemp. Hemp leaves themselves constitute a light drug, called marijuana, without any chemical process. From the flower of Indian hemp, meanwhile, a dark liquid is extracted, yielding another light drug, hashish. A very widespread narcotic substance found around the world—and certainly the most expensive—is also obtained from a plant: cocaine. The coca plant is cultivated mostly in South America. Through the use of chemical substances, its flowers yield the so-called “cocaine paste”, which is the basic ingredient for preparing cocaine.

SHKODER — Fishing with explosives—a crime—is becoming a daily occurrence in our waters. Our seas, lakes and rivers are gradually turning into targets of illegal profit-making. Lake Shkodër (pictured) has been particularly hard hit by this unusual phenomenon. There will certainly be consequences: fish stocks and their variety will decline and, most importantly, the environment will be endangered. Private fishermen are involved. They catch fish, a considerable quantity of which is exported because—as they themselves say—it is more profitable. “Of the total quantity of fish, 75 per cent should be sold domestically and 25 per cent should go towards fulfilling foreign contracts,” say other fishermen who fish in the Buna lake. In the Shkodër district Customs Directorate, 540 tonnes of fish have been recorded over the past five months, of which 460 tonnes were exported, while only the remainder went to the domestic market. So these are large quantities of fish, but nothing is said about how it was caught. “To prevent this fishing, the measures are very minimal,” say some specialists from the Fisheries Directorate. It is quite clear that there are suspicions, but it is also known that fish caught with dynamite or similar explosives are damaged. No one can have an interest in encouraging illegal fishing, which is causing the death of our aquatic fauna day after day.

Blood feud:

Witnesses single out the MP

Athens, we do not recognize

Pukë / One killed PUKË — An appeal by the Ministry of Public Order against the atavistic crime of blood feuding. In the village of Arr, in the district of Pukë, Zef Nikoll Pjetri, 42, father of five children, was killed for motives of blood feud. According to district police officers, the killer was the young Filip Zef Prenda — now arrested — from the village of Mërtur, as well as his uncle, who is being sought by the police authorities. The victim was shot in the back in the early hours of the day. This latest case adds to other crimes — especially in the northern area — caused by blood feuding.

Closed-door trial for the three defendants TIRANA — (Ed.La.) — A rare trial at the Tirana Court. After spending a year in Tirana Prison, three teenagers appeared before the court that would determine their guilt for the crime committed against the daughter of a member of the Albanian Parliament. The charge: “engaging in sexual relations by force”; the sentence was four years’ imprisonment for Altin Meta, 17, and two years’ imprisonment for his peer Gerti Mulosmani. Altin Çaushti, meanwhile, was released because his guilt was not proven. But for the first time — after the Shkodër trial — lawyer Spartak Ngjela asked to defend the injured party’s interests, a request the Court rejected because Albanian law does not recognize such a procedure. The trial, held behind closed doors, had to reach a decision even though the injured party, F., 16, did not appear at the hearing. Ultimately — after six more hearings at which the injured party again failed to appear — the Court decided to try the case on the basis of the testimony she had given to the Investigation Office on July 22 of the previous year. All three defendants and their lawyers asked for acquittal, which was deemed justified for only one of the teenagers. For the other two, according to the final ruling, the charge of engaging in sexual relations by force was proven. Under the Albanian Code of Criminal Procedure, this charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years (but the sentence is halved for minors). A year earlier, when the serious incident had taken place, the fact that the crime had been committed against the daughter of a well-known MP had also created the possibility of political exploitation. Indeed, several MPs spoke about the incident in Parliament. Nevertheless, the Court did not treat the incident as a political matter at all.

Tirana’s request is rejected ATHENS — “Greece does not intend formally to acknowledge the existence of an Albanian ethnic minority on its territory, but harbors no expansionist aims toward Albania and carries out no ethnic cleansing to employ Albanians.” This is the tone of the Greek government’s reply to the response of the Albanian Prime Minister — the Foreign Minister — who had requested recognition of the presence of an Albanian minority made up of Muslims, Orthodox Christians and Arvanites, who have lived in Greece for centuries. Tirana said it was ready to appeal to the International Court of Justice in The Hague to secure such recognition. The Athens government has now responded once again with a firm position, saying no to Meksi’s latest request. The Greek government set Tirana six further preliminary conditions, including one requiring it to readmit in Gjirokastër the priest Crissostomos Maedoni, expelled from Albania a month earlier on charges of anti-Albanian activities.

DURRËS — Jazz has landed in Albania for the first time. After the concert in Tirana, “Ellis Marsalis Student” gave a second concert in Durrës. For the first time in Tirana and Durrës, an American group A success for the great jazz concert A new passion for Albanians DURRËS — Jazz has landed in Albania for the first time. After the concert in Tirana, “Ellis Marsalis Student” gave a second concert in Durrës; the concert was held as a musical event and is particularly important from a cultural perspective. In fact, after 45 years of communist censorship, jazz — which Enver Hoxha’s regime defined as “decadent music,” like rock and any other Western artistic form — has begun to find favor with the Albanian public as well. This is certainly a particularly sophisticated kind of music, requiring specific education as well as a “habit” of listening; but the success and approval achieved by the American jazz quintet show that artists such as Armstrong and Ellington have won over fans and experts in Albania too. The group performing on the Albanian tour consists of Brice Winston (tenor saxophone), Antoyne Drye (trumpet), Dwinght Fitch (piano), Jason Stewart (double bass) and Karl Budo (drums). The concert program features music by Sharterley, Gershwin, King Oliver, Ellington and Armstrong. And the fact that Luis Armstrong is already a legend here too is shown by a small detail: Tirana’s first hotel for tourists to open was named after him. Louis Armstrong

KLEPSCH BRINGS DEPUTIES FROM ALL PARTIES TOGETHER IN PARLIAMENT — After nearly a month, deputies from all parties represented in Parliament came together to hear Eigon Klepsh, President of the European Parliament. Deputies from the PSD and PS, who had boycotted Parliament’s proceedings because of disagreements over the presentation of the Constitution, were also present. After Klepsh’s speech to the Albanian parliamentarians, none of the opposition deputies—who had previously boycotted Parliament—gave any assurance that they would return even before the draft Constitution arrived. ACCIDENT IN SHKODËR, CHILD DIES — Rexhep Sasto, 10, was the victim of a car accident in Shkodër. The incident took place on the city’s main road, but according to officials from the Road Inspectorate, it happened because of a minor lapse in attention. After the accident, the driver of the private car, Rejbo Selmani, was detained by the police, who are continuing the necessary investigations. Shkodër has recently been particularly exposed to road accidents. DURRËS BRINGS BLOOD DONORS UNDER CONTROL — The improvement of conditions for blood donors in the city of Durrës has brought them all under control. The city’s new surgical hospital is now an additional resource for its 2518 blood donors. In addition, to help donors, quantities of sugar, oil, soap and other food supplies have been allocated. Kartlas, or the association “God Loves Albania”, has also provided assistance.

Former president of Eni dies in prison Unemployment worldwide affects young people most Jazz concert by the famous Hampton