Albanian police find tonne of marijuana under house

A police statement Thursday said the drugs were found packed in plastic bags and hidden in underground tunnels he allegedly had dug under his house in a village in Vlora District, 160 kilometres (100 miles) southwest of the Albanian capital, Tirana.PHOTO:COURTESY

Albanian police say they have arrested a man who allegedly had 1.25 metric tonnes (1.38 tonnes) of dried cannabis hidden under his house.

 A police statement Thursday said the drugs were found packed in plastic bags and hidden in underground tunnels he allegedly had dug under his house in a village in Vlora District, 160 kilometres (100 miles) southwest of the Albanian capital, Tirana.

 Police say the drugs were going to be smuggled into Italy. Authorities in Albania say they destroyed about 2.5 million marijuana plants last year, four times more than the year before.

They also reported seizing several metric tonnes of cannabis at border crossing points or from boats bound for neighbouring Italy and Greece. — AP