Albanien, versorgt den Waffen, Drogen Markt mit Waffen in England
Terrifying weapons stash destined for evil Albanian gangs in London seized by cops in dramatic swoop
A TERRIFYING stash of weapons destined for gangs on the streets of Britain has been seized after police smashed a gun-running gang.
Rapid-firing Glock pistols and a Kalashnikov assault rifle were among 25 firearms found in a swoop in Albania.
The weapons and hundreds of rounds of ammunition were set to be sent to Albanian gangs in Britain who are fighting a turf war over drugs and prostitution in London.
Albanian State Police found the guns being prepared for shipment when masked and armed cops stormed a property in a suburb of the capital Tirana on Thursday.
Albanian police working with the UK’s National Crime Agency made five arrests as investigations continued following the discovery of the weapons cache this week.
And warrants were issued for the arrest of three more men still at large in the UK with links to the gang. Three Albanian men aged 21, 44 and 62 have been charged with international weapons smuggling.
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The NCA worked with Albania’s Special Prosecutor against Corruption and Organised Crime. Their probe focused on the crime-plagued Tropoja region, in Albania’s north.
Since the late 1990s, gangs from Tropoja have become active in the Albanian communities in the East and South East London boroughs of Woolwich, Stratford and Barking.
Mobsters involved in prostitution, cocaine smuggling and cannabis farms are feared to be ramping up their firepower to warn off rivals.
Ervin Karamuco, professor of criminology at Tirana State University, said: “Criminal groups in Albania have established an arsenal of modern weapons and accessories to supply their associates in the UK.
“Weapons are secured in Turkey and the Serbian illegal market and could have been used by anyone — including terrorists.”
The raid followed another last year in which the same crime gang was caught shipping Austrian-made Glock pistols capable of spraying 20 bullets a second.
Six Glocks, a Browning pistol and a Hel-Star handgun were discovered hidden in a table inside a van with UK number plates, along with more than 200 bullets.
Officials in the Albanian port of Durres found the guns — en-route to an address in Luton, according to paperwork — using a scanner.
The van, a white Mercedes registered in Britain, was due to travel by ferry to the Italian port of Ancona, a two-day drive from the UK.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/29655369/cops-swoop-weapons-albania-gang/
Media britanike ‘The Sun’: Armët e kapura për në Angli, trafikoheshin nga një grup në Tropojë me lidhje në Londër
Armë e sekuestruara
Pistoleta Glock me gjuajtje të shpejtë dhe një pushkë kallashnikovi ishin midis 25 armëve të zjarrit të gjetura në Shqipëri, shkruan e përditshmja The Sun.
UK: Ringleader of Banana-Filled Cocaine Smuggling Gang Convicted
Published: 01 August 2024
By Henry Pope
The ringleader of an organized crime group that tried to smuggle millions of dollars worth of cocaine into the U.K. via a container of bananas was convicted Wednesday, the National Crime Agency (NCA) reported.
Sajid Ali, 56, of Birmingham, directed his subordinates to pick up £11 million (US$14.1 million) worth of illegal narcotics inside of a banana-filled storage unit. Police, however, became aware of Ali’s cocaine-laden consignment before it could be retrieved and set a trap for his crew.
The container originally arrived in London from Ecuador in early 2022. Unbeknownst to the group, border officers inspected their cargo and found 139 kilograms of cocaine attached to the ceiling.
Authorities then resealed the container and set up surveillance for whoever would come to claim it.
A few days later, one of Ali’s lieutenants, Robert Ball, 60, contacted the shipping firm to release the container and arranged for its transport to an off-site storage company. Although by doing so, he had unknowingly put NCA surveillance officers on his tail.
On Apr. 15, 2022, Ali, Ball, and another lieutenant Mirgent Shahu, 33, met at a café in Birmingham to go over the final arrangements to retrieve the drugs.
Investigators noted how Ali “deliberately distanced himself from the operation” by relaying instructions via WhatsApp to Shahu and Ball rather than go anywhere near the cocaine himself.
Ball and Shahu then traveled to the site with two other accomplices, whom they instructed to access the container by mounting a forklift truck.
Upon accessing the contents within, NCA and police swarmed in to arrest them. All four were convicted and are now serving a collective 62 years in prison.
Police said that Ball was working on behalf of an Albanian organized crime syndicate. An NCA Senior Press Officer later told OCCRP that Shahu was also assessed as “a significant Albanian OCG member who had been in the UK for approximately 10 years.”...........
https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/18938-uk-ringleader-of-banana-filled-cocaine-smuggling-gang-convicted