Albanian new interior minister vows to fight drugs, despite opposition promises to block his appointment

Tirana, Albania | Tirana Echo – Albania’s new minister of interior Fatmir Xhafaj, a tough senior socialist and former head of justice reform committee has taken office promising a new fight against cannabis cultivation, despite opposition promises to block his appointment.

Xhafaj 58, spoke to police chiefs yesterday promising tough new measures and vetting procedures for all police employees.

“The time has come for a Vetting process inside the police department. Zero tolerance against any breach of duty. It is my duty first and of every member of the police force to abide by the law and serve citizens. The fight against corruption will be a priority as we need police chiefs with a very high level of moral integrity. It will be unthinkable that someone form the police could cooperate with people with criminal records,” – said Xhafaj in his first day as Minister of Interior.

Xhafaj replaced former minister and a close ally of PM Rama, Saimir Tahiri, who had been under accusation of collaborating with drug lords and traffickers of narcotics, as Albania experiences a surge in cannabis plantations last year. Guardia di Finanza said the plantations had tripled since 2013.

The head of the OSCE Presence in Tirana Berndt Borchard has warned that the dirty money generated by this illegal drug trade could pose a huge risk for upcoming elections.

“It means there may be over €2bn Euros dirty money is currently circulating in Albania and the risk exists that this money is used to buy MPs. These are huge risks” – said Borchard in an interview earlier in the month.

However, Xhafaj vowed to start a new war on drug trafficking and warned of tough new measures against those facilitating cannabis plantations.

“The fight for the prevention and cultivation of cannabis will be the core of my team’s work. My challenge is to get Albania off the list of countries which cultivate cannabis. There will be punishment for every cannabis root planted and this punishment will also extend to those who allow its cultivation on their land. For those police members who become accomplices with crime, the punishment will be very severe. There will be no compromise in this fight,” said Xhafaj to the police chiefs of Albania.

The opposition democrats who have been protesting for over a month in Tirana’s main boulevard had vowed to block Xhafaj’s appointment, accusing him being an investigator during Albania’s communist regime, as well as being a former political youth secretary in Enver Hoxha’s communist party and for his brother’s links to organised crime in Italy.

DP leader Lulzim Basha, had said earlier that PM Rama had proposed one of the toughest investigators of communist times for minister of interior.

“The wolf changes its color, but not its habits. Who does not know Albania’s history would take him (Xhafaj) for a lamb, but he is an old wolf of the dictatorship. Let us promise together that Xhafaj would not cross the door of the Ministry of Interior, unless he walks over our dead bodies,” had warned Basha during a DP rally in Tirana earlier this month.

Xhafaj is also regarded as an outspoken opponent of LSI chair and Speaker of Parliament Ilir Meta whose party was highly critical of former minister Tahiri for his alleged links to criminal structures with drug trafficking interests.