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Police officer shot dead, 2 injured in village known for cannabis production in south Albania

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    Medical staff transport a police officer to a hospital after he was injured in a shootout in the village of Lazarat, 200 kilometers (125 miles) south of the capital Tirana, Wednesday, June 24, 2015. A shootout in an Albanian village known as a major illegal marijuana production area has left a 31-year-old police officer dead and two others wounded, police said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina) (The Associated Press)

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    Medical staff carry a police officer out of a helicopter after he was injured in a shootout in the village of Lazarat, 200 kilometers (125 miles) south of the capital Tirana, Wednesday, June 24, 2015. A shootout in an Albanian village known as a major illegal marijuana production area has left a 31-year-old police officer dead and two others wounded, police said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina) (The Associated Press)

TIRANA, Albania – Albanian police say one officer has been killed and two others injured from shots coming from suspected criminal gangs operating in the southern village of Lazarat, the target of a massive raid last year to crack down on major cannabis production.

Spokesman Ardi Bita said Wednesday that shots fired from a house in Lazarat killed a 31-year-old special forces officer and injured two others after police forces at a roadblock outside the village stopped a car transporting weapons.

Lazarat came to prominence last year after a five-day police siege and raid that destroyed 102 tons of marijuana and 530,000 cannabis plants. The drugs had an estimated market value at the time of 6.4 billion euros ($8.2 billion) — more than 60 percent of the country's annual GDP.