Albanian gangs are now recognized by the police to dominate the British drug market and push their rivals with lower prizes – not to mention fatal violence.
Kingpins from the Balkan state would have used direct tires to Colombian cartels to secure the best value of cocaine, so that they can persuade British street gangs with the promise of drawing up profit.
But although this model has seen a new generation of criminals take over those established organized crime groups in large cities such as London and Birmingham, this is not the case everywhere.
Liverpool stands out as one of the few areas that Albanian gangsters cannot operate, say experts – with drug trafficking that remains in the hands of local criminals, often with strong ties with the communities they terrorize.
This was demonstrated by the recent conviction of the young Liverpool -pair Eddie Burton, 23, and Sian Banks, 25, for supervising a £ 20 million drug smuggling operation that brought hundreds of kilos of heroin, cocaine and ketamine hidden in trucks from Europe to the VK .
The couple will be convicted next week after their network was caught by officers of the National Crime Agency after the arrest of Burton by the Spanish police in Ibiza's Pacha Nightclub in August 2023.
Another gang, based on the Wirral, was sentenced to a combined 44 years in prison at the end of January for the use of the post service of the Royal Mail to MDMA, Ecstasy, Cocaine, Magic Mushrooms, LSD and Ketamine throughout the country to send.
The group, which included Step-Siblingszussen Benjamin Crane, 35, and Abbey Crane, 24, have stored their medicines in a Birkenhead storage unit, before they sent orders from a post office in a local supermarket.
Sian Banks, 25, and Eddie Burton, 23, were exposed this week as the shocking young pair behind a £ 20 million drug smuggling surgery
Burton, who loves Banken, comes from Liverpool, pleaded to four charges for importing class A and B medication
Outside of MerseSide, the increasing dominance of Albanian gangs has been identified in a series of official studies – including a UN report from 2023 in which it was established that gangs from the country now 'Development' on the UK Drugs Market.
Last year, a legal legal document from the home office Albanian criminal gangs described as an 'acute threat' for the UK and 'very common for serious and organized crime' in Great -Britain – including different murders.
It is thought that this includes the murder of Rhys Thompson, 29, a young father who was abducted and beaten to death in a failed attempt to 'strain a cannabis farm' that is supposed to have been run by a Albanian gang.
He was found dead with parcel band wrapped on a heathland in Rishworth, West Yorkshire, early in the morning of May 13, 2021. No one was ever accused of his murder.
Research by the National Crime Agency has shown that Albanian-organized crime groups control the cocaic market in the capital and suburbs of the UK (with the exception of merseyside).
But the NCA says that these gangsters are increasingly specialized in cannabis, which is seen as 'very low risk'.
In 2023, the Agency and the 43 police services in England and Wales focused on 'West Balkan' gangs that took almost 200,000 cannabis plants worth a maximum of £ 130 million, £ 636,000 in cash, 26 kilograms of cocaine worth a maximum of £ 1 million and 20 firearms.
So with Albanian crime lords who increase their grip over a large part of the UK, why have they not been able to make their presence feel in Liverpool?
Experts mentioned a number of reasons, including the tight grip that is traditionally practiced by local gangsters such as Curtis Warren and the Huyton company about illegal shipments that come through the port of the city.
Rhys Thompson, 29, was kidnapped, killed and dumped his body in a disruption linked to a failed attempt to 'tax “a cannabis farm run by Albanians in 2021
Forensic investigators on site where Mr Thompson's body was found in Rishworth, West Yorkshire
A residential area where 22-year-old Sam Rimmer was shot in 2022
Peter Walsh, author of Drug War: The Secret History, believes that another answer can be found by seeing how Balkan gangs infiltrated the British Underworld for the first time.
“The Albanians became a force in Europe in the nineties,” he told MailOnline. 'I understand that the connected ties with the Colombians who export cocaine to Europe through large shipping jobs.
'By negotiating directly with the suppliers, the Albanians were able to circumvent the more established gangs in Europe. But crucial they sold the medicines at lower price points than existing crime groups, which gave them a crucial advantage.
'The Albanians flourished in Greater London, which was already racial diverse. They then expanded to the provinces at home and to Birmingham.
'I just think that MerseSide has stayed out of their reach for a combination of factors that have worked against them.
'The first is that Liverpool is such a local, Clan -based city. The delivery of drugs in Liverpool is always dominated by established crime groups that have strong ties in various communities. '
Despite their reputation for wild retaliation against criminal rivals, Mr Walsh thinks that the business model of the Albanians was based on price competition – instead of the violence that is usually associated with drug gangs.
“The thought that Albanians are looking for local crime gangs in Liverpool in night clubs or in residential areas is ridiculous,” said Mr. Walsh.
A gang, based on the Wirral, used Royal Mail to send £ 2.7 million MDMA. Depicted is Benjamin Crane, 35, and Bradley Gene Gray, 43
Abbey Crane, 24, was sentenced to nine years in prison after being found guilty after the trial, while Kylie Collins, 36, was handed over for six years
A street in the Wavertree area of Liverpool after a deadly gangland
'The first point is that they would not have been able to mix in the community in the way it was possible to do this in London and Birmingham.
'Members of local communities affiliated with drug gangs would have reported their activities to the police, and then they would have had serious violence.
“Liverpool is a city that is reluctant to come in for fear of violence.”
A former detective who had been on Scotland Yard for decades, MailOnline told that Albanian drug gangs became a problem in the early 2000s.
The former chief inspector of the senior detective, who asked not to be called, said: “The FBI came to Scotland Yard to warn us of the specific threat presented by the Albanian crime groups to the UK.
'The American officials told us that the Albanians were willing to use a wild level of violence that was never seen in the UK.
'We later had meetings with officials from MI6 (known as six to buyers) to discuss this threat. It was then clear that the Albanians were skilled in smuggling people, drugs and firearms. '
The former detectives claimed that many Albanian gangsters entered the UK by claiming to search for asylum from the Yugoslav War before building a power base around the West -Londs of Hathslow near Heathrow Airport.
The police have seized up to £ 2.7 million to MDMA, Ecstasy, Cocaine, Magic Mushrooms, LSD and Ketamine
Their Trek also included 125,550 ecstasy tablets, 8 kg of cocaine, 7 kg MDMA powder, 2 kg of cocaine, 454 g magic mushrooms, 4 kg LSD and 230 2CB tablets
“Albanians would enter the UK to perform revenge killings – an Albanian man who worked as a taxi driver in the Hove area was stabbed to death by one of these heat teams,” he said.
“The murderers then tried to flee the UK, but my team managed to snare them just in time. I would describe the Albanian crime groups that we have treated as particularly filthy and malignant. '
Although he was not in break in Liverpool, he said that Albanian gangs had now spread their tentacles to other countries to Australia.
A Liverpool man with experience with his underworld mentioned various other characteristics of the city's drug scene, has made it particularly difficult for outsiders to penetrate.
He said MailOnline: 'The safety scene of the nightclub in Liverpool used to be heavily linked to drug trafficking.
'Door teams would arrange the sale of drugs in clubs and bars to say it easily. But the bouncers were all locally and knew the club owners. Yes, you had the strange fall-out, but in the end things were solved.
“The second point is the port of Liverpool. Curtis Warren and then the Huyton company have always checked what comes in through the port.
'Again, the Albanians have no influence here, so they cannot penetrate the market. The only chance for Albanians in Liverpool is that a small company comes for the weekend, sells pills in a few clubs and then leaves on Monday. '
