Albanian Police

Albanian police have continued combing the village of Lazarat, conducting house-to-house searches to find members of the armed group that on Wednesday killed 31-year-old special forces officer Ibrahim Basha in an ambush.

Since the operation started on Wednesday, police have detained dozens of suspects, mostly young man, for questioning by prosecutors.

12 members of a group that on Wednesday morning opened fire at the Albanian police, killing one officer and wounding two others, have been arrested.

The incidents happened in the Albanian village of Lazarat, "known as a 'cannabis kingdom' for its industrial-scale production of the drug," AFP reported.

Police are still battling to take control of the village in southern Albania, which Italian financial police say produced 900 metric tons of marijuana last year, with an estimated street value of €4.5 billion.

Police on Wednesday said that over the last three days they had destroyed more 70,000 cannabis plants, over 12 tons of marijuana, two drugs labs, weapons and ammunition.

Police found the drugs stashed in a van parked on secluded beach. It is believed that speed boats were to be used to traffic the drugs to Italy.

Media reports said police have arrested one suspect and issued warrants for five others.   

The drugs are believed to have originated in the notoriously lawless village of Lazarat, a no-go zone for police.