Albanian cannabis growers and 800 police battle in Lazarat

[lalalaa]

Hundreds of Albanian police, backed by armoured vehicles, stormed a lawless southern village after suspected marijuana growers allegedly fired rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and machine guns at officers during a drug raid.

Four people - a policeman and three villagers - have been hurt so far, suffering light gunshot injuries in the hostilities in and around Lazarat, a major marijuana-producing centre 230 kilometres (140 miles) south of the capital, Tirana, on Monday and Tuesday.

Gangs based in Lazarat are believed to produce about 900 metric tons of cannabis a year, worth about 4.5 billion euros (£3.5 billion/ $6.1 billion) - roughly half of the small Balkan country's GDP.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2658903/Albanian-police-storm-lawless-marijuana-village.html

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/17/albanian-cannabis-growers-800-police-battle-lazarat

p.s.
I highly doubt £3bn worth of weed being destroyed, but then again it's dailymail so what else to expect..

 

[weekend addiction]

Yah that sounds WAY too high. That's really cool though I hope Albania will wise up and realize the potential to make a ton of money here. Sell the pot legally in Albania to tourists. It would become the California of Europe (all the good weed would be from there).

 

[ro4eva]

Unfortunately, Albanians tend to be really hot-headed - at least the ones I know (which amounts to a lot).

Doesn't mean they're bad people, because they're not. Rather, IME, they tend to "shoot first and ask questions later" - if you get my meaning.

Their country has been ravaged by war for too long. Many of them have fled as desensitized refugees who have witnessed atrocities committed against family members. These atrocities are so barbaric that many of them develop PTSD from a young age.

When I think of Albania, I think of present day Mexico. Each nation's people have been pushed to the breaking point by very violent conflicts.

Wish we could learn to peacefully co-exist with each other for once, but too many nosy people think they have a right to make a stranger's business their own. And that usually leads to a big fucking problem.