Over 80% of Heroin in Albania Enters from North Macedonia, Elbasan Key points

North Macedonia is the only country in the Balkans that is considered unique by all as a key point for the distribution of Afghan heroin in Europe, writes the INA news agency in Skopje.
North Macedonia is a major transit point for countries in Western Europe as the geographical location enables a connection with 5 states, where the main heroin route passes: Bulgaria, Turkey, Kosovo, Serbia and Albania.
All international traffic routes will definitely pass through Macedonia, said INA’s report on Sunday.
For Europol, North Macedonia is the most important place for heroin, storage and repackaging and traffickers from that country are increasingly active in transit and destination markets. Gangs in this country traffick large quantities of heroin from Turkey to Western and Central Europe.
There are two main destinations, Switzerland and the Netherlands as these countries consume more heroin.
The maps created by the experts clearly show the routes from where the heroin is distributed, said the report.
Suspicious transactions with Afghanistan were reported for the first time in 2010 by the local traffickers, who were suspected of buying drugs directly in that country.
Significant quantities of heroin are suspected to pass through six border checkpoints of North Macedonia and one of them is related to Albania. Small quantities stop in Elbasan. While large quantities continue the international journey. 80 percent of heroin entering Albania comes from North Macedonia. This makes Elbasan, especially after 2010, one of the key points of distribution not only for the domestic market, but also for that in Italy, concludes INA. /argumentum.al