UPDATE 1-Albania's interior minister Fatmir Xhafaj to be replaced by Sander Lleshi

Albania's Interior Minister Fatmir Xhafaj resigned on Saturday and will be replaced by Prime Minister Edi Rama's security advisor Sander Lleshi, a former army general, Rama has announced.

Xhafaj's resignation came as a surprise a week after police arrested 27 people in a major drug rings crackdown and two former ruling Socialist lawmakers over graft, but failed to catch a drug lord who has eluded arrest for two years now.