Albanian police

Albanian police on Friday announced strict security measures in place for the football match with Israel that will be played at the Elbasan Arena on Saturday evening.

Around 2,000 police will be deployed to secure the match, while other security measures will also be implemented.

The Court of Serious Crimes in Tirana on Monday decided to keep in jail four Albanians suspected of terrorism, who have refused to be represented by lawyers.

It came after Albanian police on Saturday announced the results of a regional anti-terrorist police operation conducted in Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia, and said investigations are still continuing.

The Albanian police announced on Friday that they seized 4.2 tons of cannabis and arrested 31 suspects.

This was done by "100 police officers who raided a location near Rreshen," a town north of the capital, Tirana earlier this week, AP has reported.

Bratislav Dikic - Photo: Dado DJilas

PROKUPLJE - Serbian PM Aleksandar Vucic on Monday voiced suspicion over accusations of terrorism levelled by Montenegro against a group of 20 Serbian citizens led by former Gendarmerie chief Bratislav Dikic that has been arrested in the country.

A steady trickle of migrants and refugees from the Middle East and Africa refugees make their way toward West Europe through Albania - now the former "Balkan route" through Greece, Macedonia, Serbia and Hungary has all but closed.

Albanian police have stopped 27 people from Syria, Iraq and Sudan trying to cross the country toward Western Europe.

A statement Wednesday said police arrested three Albanians who were paid 600-1,200 euros ($675-1,350) per migrant, promising to take them to European Union countries. They face up to 10 years in jail if convicted.

Mystery - and a thick web of conspiracy theories - surrounds the circumstances under which a small plane with an Italian pilot crashed on Thursday in the Ishem area north of Tirana, leaving the pilot who was flying alone slightly injured.

Villagers in Lazarat in southern Albania fear they are going to be prejudged and stereotyped in a new movie by the Canadian movie company Mercury Films, which is due for release in June 2017.

The small village gained worldwide notoriety for the large-scale of production of cannabis for almost a decade, during which time it was virtually off-limits to Albanian police.

After nine months on the run from his life jail sentence, Albanian police have confirmed at Arben Frroku is under arrest in Holland.

With Western Balkan route being officially closed, Greece’s neighboring countries are trying to seal their borders so as to prevent the 42,000 refugees and immigrants who are trapped in Greece to seek alternative routes so as to continue their journey to Europe.