Albanian prosecutor seeks to lift former minister’s immunity

TIRANA, Albania – The Albanian prosecutor general’s office says it has asked parliament to lift the immunity of a former interior minister suspected of being involved with a drug trafficking ring.

Saimir Tahiri, who was interior minister until March, is now a lawmaker with the governing Socialist Party led by Prime Minister Edi Rama.

Prosecutors said Thursday they are investigating, in collaboration with their Italian counterparts, a “criminal group that has trafficked large amounts of cannabis.”

Tahiri has distant family links to leaders of the group arrested recently in Italy.

Also on Thursday, three people were arrested and four metric tons of cannabis seized in Albania in a case related to the Italian arrests.

Rama has pledged to get Albania off the list of top cannabis-producing countries by the end of the year.