FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
The prestigious media "BBC" has written about Albanian criminal gangs that smuggle people to Great Britain and force them to work on cannabis farms.
According to the BBC, these gangs are being hit by the British police and the Manchester police who arrested 46 Albanian citizens in 2023 and discovered more than 10 million pounds of cannabis.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said people were forced to work in appalling conditions while their criminal bosses made significant fortunes.
Det Supt Joe Harrop said the groups from the Western Balkans were the focus of an operation involving police forces from across the UK.
"Often, Albanian gangs have bought people to work in the UK in places like cannabis farms. These are terrible conditions. They live and sleep inside the farms and cannot leave.
They maintain plants which are often in different stages of growth in different rooms. The top leaders of these crime groups make a huge amount of money," said Det Supt Harrop.
He said the groups would buy "luxury cars", clothes and expensive brand watches and then return to their country and "glorify that wealth", which encourages "another generation of criminals to come to the Kingdom of United".
sequestration
As part of an investigation between May and November 2023, officers became aware of an Albanian who was believed to be controlling others in the large-scale production of cannabis across the region.
By identifying the higher level members of the gang, the police were able to make several arrests.
In 2022, the police made 10,788 cannabis seizures and in the following year this figure increased to 13,247. In September 2024, four people from Albania received long prison sentences for operating cannabis factories.
Figures from the Ministry of Justice show that, at the end of March 2024, more than 1,200 Albanians were held in prisons in England and Wales, more than any other foreign nationality.
Amy Bond, chief operating officer of modern slavery charity Causeway, said: "Most people trapped in modern slavery are trapped in labor exploitation, so it's things like cannabis farms."
"There has been a transition from Vietnamese gangs to Albanian gangs. The gangs will bring people to these areas and promise them a job. The victims then get involved in illegal work and cannot leave because they fear being followed." ", he added.
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