Italian national Anti-Mafia Prosecutor Franco Roberti made a strong statement today in Tirana, during the joint press conference with Albanian General Prosecutor Adriatik Llalla: “The quantity of drugs cultivated in Albania has tripled”.

“Traffic of narcotics between Albania and Italy has increased. We need, along with the Albanian colleagues, to understand which the reason for the traffic growth is and at the same time what we can do to enhance our strategy and cooperation. Italy has shown interest in cooperation and in nominating a judge near the Albanian Ministry of Justice. We are interested to find out how we can cooperate and fight the traffic. The quantity of drugs cultivated in Albania has tripled”.

Concerning corruption and dirty money, Roberti underlined the hundreds of arrests made in Italy.

“We have made hundreds of arrests to fight corruption. The Italian Prosecution sequesters a lot. All the officials who had criminal connections have been arrested”, Roberti said.

Lalla said that has been the case a few times in Albania as well. Llalla also spoke about the two prosecutors arrested today, saying they are suspected for involvement in criminal offences.

“We have a few cases of property sequestering and many criminal proceedings. There are suspicions the two prosecutors arrested today are involved in criminal offences. They will be investigated”, Llalla said.