Albanian MP 'Hid Drug Dealer From Police'

On October 1, 2014, special police were conducting a major anti-drug operation aimed at netting a ring of international traffickers of marijuana.

One of the suspects, Bardhok Pllanaj, was seen entering in a car, which was stopped but police officers did not dare to enter it.

ABC News, a television station in Tirana, on Monday said it knew the reason why.

It published secret police documents in which nine police officers recorded telling their superiors that they could not arrest the suspect because he was hiding in a car belonging to Mark Frroku, an MP from the ruling Socialist Party-led coalition.

"For about two minutes, the vehicle stood still. We found out that its doors were closed but after a while, the backseat window opened? The person said he was a member of parliament, Mark Frroku. He said: this car can be searched only with a specific decision from parliament because I am an MP and the car is mine," ABC News TV said, publishing police records of the event.

The records suggest that the police officers attempted in vain to obtain search permits from prosecutor's service and from their superiors. In the end, they closed the operation and let the suspect go.

While Albania's constitution grants MPs immunity in certain situations, it still remains unclear why the police officers were not allowed to proceed with the search.

The accused MP, Frroku, has meanwhile denied the allegations on Facebook.

"I deny with contempt any allegation of criminal activity against my person," he stated. "All the enterprises that I have built with my family are legal," he added.

The Ministry of Interior has not denied the veracity of the documents published on TV but expressed concerns that their publication may have "put at...