Albanian gang and British woman sentenced following £1-million burglary enterprise

An Albanian organised crime group (OCG) and a British woman have been sentenced following a million-pound burglary enterprise across the UK.

We worked closely with other forces to uncover the group’s brazen offending, where it was discovered that they had committed at least 44 burglaries across the UK, including nine burglaries in Staffordshire.

They amassed more than £1-million worth of goods from these burglaries. Some of these items have been recovered, but most of them have been sold on.

They took designer handbags, expensive bottles of wine, cash and jewellery.  

Locally, the group targeted homes in Abbots Bromley, Stone, Aldridge, Marchington, Hill Ridware, Barton-under-Needwood, Cheslyn Hay, Kings Bromley and Cheddleton. Some of the items taken in Staffordshire were of significant sentimental value to victims, and work is continuing to return them to their rightful owners.

Detectives from our criminal investigations department (CID) worked closely with a number of other forces to piece together the operations of the gang, including Cheshire Police, Derbyshire Police and Nottinghamshire Police. We were able to find a DNA hit for one member of the group in Staffordshire, where the group would meet and links between how they facilitated the burglaries.

By working collectively with other forces, officers teamed up and carried out a series of raids at addresses in Walsall, Sutton Coldfield and Birmingham, where four members of the group were arrested. One member of the group was later arrested in Surrey. The last outstanding member was later arrested in Sheffield.

Almost £17,000 was found across the raids, including 13 designer handbags and 14 watches.

Now, the gang have been jailed collectively for more than 38 years.

Endrit Nikolli, 27, of Walsall, Kristian Gropcaj, 30, of Birmingham, George Lleshaj, 31, of Walsall, Krisjian Dedndreaj, 28, of Walsall and Sidorjan Lleshi, 26, of Sheffield, all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary and conspiracy to possess criminal property, during to hearings at Chester Crown Court on Friday 28 November 2025 and Tuesday 6 January 2026.

Nikolli and Lleshi also both admitted one additional count of burglary, in relation to two burglaries in Staffordshire in March 2024 and December 2023.

Jade Tubb, 33, of Coventry, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possessing criminal property on Wednesday 7 January.

Five of the group were sentenced at Chester Crown Court yesterday (Monday 13 April) and today (Tuesday 14 April):

• Lleshi (below), jailed for 10-years-and-nine-months for conspiracy to commit burglary, one count of burglary and conspiracy to possess criminal property. An additional 15 counts of burglary were also taken into consideration

• Dedndreaj (below), jailed for nine years for conspiracy to commit burglary and a concurrent sentence of five years for conspiracy to possess criminal property

• Pepa, jailed for nine years for conspiracy to commit burglary and a concurrent sentence of four-and-a-half-years for conspiracy to possess criminal property

• Gropcaj (below), jailed for 10 years for conspiracy to commit burglary and a concurrent sentence of five-and-a-half-years for conspiracy to possess criminal property

• Tubb, sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years, for possession of criminal property.

A sixth defendant, 29-year-old Endrit Nikolli, is due to be sentenced on Wednesday 29 April.

Detective Constable Grant Dixon, from CID, said: “Officers and staff from various police forces have all put significant effort into making sure this group were stopped in their tracks and brought to justice today.

“It is not lost on me the extent of the damage they have caused to different people across the UK, both from a financial and emotional perspective.

“We have worked tirelessly to make sure that the evidence presented in court was irrefutable, meaning that they had no other choice but to confront what they have done in court.

“I’m pleased we’ve been able to deliver this outcome collectively today. We’ve worked together to put a prolific group of offenders behind bars, and we’ll continue to do that against those who are still out there committing burglaries in our communities.”