Albania: Drug Raid Rattles Village

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/17/world/europe/albania-drug-raid-rattles-village.html

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Hundreds of police officers, backed by armored vehicles, stormed a lawless southern village on Monday after people suspected of growing marijuana fired rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and machine guns at officers during a drug raid. The police said no one was hurt in the clash in and around Lazarat, about 140 miles south of the capital, Tirana. Gangs based in Lazarat are believed to produce about 900 metric tons of cannabis a year, worth about $6.1 billion. Albanian authorities have recently begun a nationwide operation to uproot the plantations. About 500 police officers surrounded the village of 5,000 on Monday after a smaller force was repelled over the weekend. The police said officers had taken control of the village after exchanging fire with nearly 30 armed men, who fled to a nearby mountain. The police destroyed seven plots with about 10,000 cannabis plants and 1,000 trees ready to be planted.