FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
The moment of the arrest of one of the main players of an Albanian gang that pumped cocaine into the British community is published. For almost a year, the gang ran the 'Eddie line' drug operation, distributing cocaine in Swadlincote, North-West Leicestershire and East Staffordshire and making hundreds of thousands of pounds in the process.
While the criminal group's inner circle led by brothers Edmond and Eduard Haziri enjoyed a lavish lifestyle from the proceeds of crime, they left a trail of addiction, crime and misery on the local streets. They are now behind bars. The action-packed video released shows how the gang ended up before justice and gives viewers an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the moment the empire began to unravel. The footage is the culmination of thousands of hours of police work, in an operation led by Derbyshire detectives and funded by the Home Office's National Coordination Centre. Dozens of police officers participated in the action, arresting several people, searching numerous properties, seizing bags of evidence and confiscating the proceeds of crime. But the whole operation had a much more straightforward beginning.
THE FIRST DOMINO
It was many months before the 'doors were opened', before Eddie's gang activity first came into focus. One of our PCSOs had spotted the driver of a vehicle acting suspiciously in the Swadlincote area. The car was suspected to be related to drug trafficking in the area and was soon linked to other vehicles.
It was this first report that led to the discovery of a vast drug distribution network that stretched from London to the Midlands through a supplier named Gazmend Hoxha. He would travel from his home in Leicester to London to transport the money made from the deal and bring back the next batch of cocaine. The drug—often disguised as folded lottery tickets—was then distributed through the network of dealers to eventually reach users. Derby Crown Court heard the gang are believed to have processed 9kg of cocaine, with an estimated street value of up to £1.1m.
As the team of police detectives descended on the field, stopping and searching vehicles, the fog began to clear as to who stood at the head of the group. All roads led to the Haziri brothers and other members in the upper echelons of the criminal organization.
DAY OF THE ATTACK
As the clock strikes 7am on March 23, 2022, tactical teams opened the doors to several properties and within minutes had rounded up the gang's key players, including the Haziri brothers. A team targeted a gang-related business premises and discovered a large DIY casino complete with poker and blackjack tables in the basement. Meticulous searches of all properties then began, with one critical piece of evidence front and center: the 'Eddie line' mobile phone. Along the way, teams found expensive jewellery, clothes and vehicles, wads of cash often in bundles of £50 notes and also seized lottery ticket wrappers containing cocaine ready to be distributed.
But while all of this helped create photo evidence against the gang, it was the phone that remained elusive. Officers expected him to be at Alban Krasniqi's home address in Blackheath Hill, London, and although the team found multiple phones at the flat, Eddie's line was missing. It was later discovered that Krasniqi had managed to throw the phone from his bedroom window while the police were forcing their way into the apartment. The iPhone sailed through the air and landed in a neighboring garden, where it might have gone undetected had it not been for one of the Met's dog handlers and his four-legged colleague. With the hotline secured, the team got everything they needed and, along with a handful of prisoners, returned to Derby to examine the evidence.
BREAKING THE CODE
Critical evidence of the gang's activities lay hidden in the phones, protected by a six-digit security code set by Krasniqi. To get to him, detectives had to figure out the passcode, but they only had a limited number of attempts. Fortunately, during the days and weeks spent carefully mapping the gang's behavior, the team had uncovered security camera footage of Krasniqi making a contactless purchase at a store. They believed the iPhone he was holding in the footage was the same phone they now had in their possession, so they saw him enter the code into the CCTV and intercepted what they saw. In the late hours of March 23, the phone was turned on and revealed a wealth of evidence: drug orders, shipment locations, dates, contacts and much more. The contents of the phone, along with other evidence gathered during the investigation, helped secure charges of supplying Class A cocaine in Britain.
BEHIND BARS
Other arrests followed, including that of the supplier Hoxha, who was eventually caught in a trap in a village near Cannock, and the main players found themselves before the courts. Some pleaded guilty to the charges against them, while others, including the Haziri brothers, denied them. But after an eight-week trial at Derby Crown Court earlier this year, a jury found them guilty. On Friday, November 17, the penultimate member of the gang, merchant Razvan Manoliu, was convicted, leaving only one member yet to be convicted, who goes on trial next month. Manoli's sentence of two years and eight months brings the gang's current prison total to more than 70 years. The Haziri brothers' combined sentences alone account for more than 30 of those years.
BAND MEMBERS:
Edmund Haziri, 36 years old, sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Edward Haziri, 34, jailed for 15 years and six months.
Gazmend Hoxha, 47 years old, sentenced to 11 years in prison.
Alban Krasniqi, 34 years old, sentenced to nine years in prison.
Samuel Stoica, 25, jailed for eight years and three months.
Simion Stoica, 22, imprisoned for three years and six months.
Kristi Prifti, 23, sentenced to four years in prison.
Joshua Garrigan, 32, jailed for two years and eight months.
Razvan Manoliu, 27, imprisoned for two years and eight months.
Daniel Stavrat, 29, will be sentenced next month.
Lini një Përgjigje