Albanian gangsters in UK prisons costing taxpayer £57million a year as drugs kingpins wage war on our streets | The Sun
ALBANIAN criminals held in prisons here are costing the taxpayer £57million a year, figures show.
There are 1,336 Albanians serving time in jails in England and Wales, according to an official report.
With the average cost of keeping a prisoner at £42,670 a year, according to the Ministry of Justice, the cost of holding them would come to £57,007,120.
The bill emerged as stats show 12,000 Albanians have reached the UK in small boats so far this year.
The country’s director of immigration police Saimir Boshnjaku said many were forced to work for gangsters to repay the cost of being smuggled to the UK.
He said: “Those that make money from drugs come back here driving Maseratis and Mercedes and they buy a big villa in the village.”
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Albanian political respondent Muhamed Veliu has called on the UK government to issue more visas so people can migrate safely and legally.
"Only a small portion of people arriving on the boat end up in crime.
"The majority of them arrive in the UK because it’s a huge market that needs labour in building construction.
"It’s the level of salaries in the UK that attracts Albanians.”
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Members of an Albanian gang known as The Hellbanianz who were flooding Britain with cocaine were revealed to be brazenly posting pictures online as they showed off their guns, cash and flash motors.
The gang, from Barking, East London, are understood to traffic millions of pounds worth of drugs into the UK each year.
But instead of keeping a low profile, the group flaunted their wealth and stash of weapons online, getting nearly 10,000 followers to their social media pages.
Three members of the gang were locked up for a total of 42 years in 2016 following a police operation which recovered £6million worth of drugs and a machine gun.
One member, pictured showing his middle finger to the camera, wrote on Instagram: “I'm trying to spend It.. You still trying to make it #SnowMoney not #ShowMoney”
FLAUNT MONEY AND GUNS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Other images on their social media channels include a cake laden with £50 notes as well as footage of gang-members in prison rapping about violent attacks.
Pictures have even been posted of a small child wearing a gang symbol medallion.
Elsewhere, they brag about having “city control” over London and say they are “ready for war” with rival gangs.
In a disturbing YouTube video gang members rap to warn their rivals.
They claim they are “God of the streets” and they pose with expensive cars and glamorous women.
They rap: “[Hellbanianz] is ready for violence, he asked this as proof, ask these or talk about facts, ask this if we shoot.
“London city control, f*** this team with crowns, f*** that b***h from tattoos, the gang has already taken over.
'READY FOR WAR'
“[Hellbanianz] is ready for war, with two arms arm wrist, we about dat gango bando, how do you compare to me?”
Several members of Hellbanainz are in jail including Tristen Aslanni who was caged for 25 years for drugs and firearms offences.
He was arrested after crashing a car containing a suitcase of cocaine into a shop in Crouch End after being pursued by police.
During a search of a house in connection to his arrest, cops found a £6m drug stash, including cocaine and a Skorpion machine gun with a silencer.
The National Crime Agency believes because Albanian gangs import so much cocaine into the UK, this has contributed to the growth of county lines gangs.
These gangs often groom young children to transport drugs out of London to sell in quiet towns and other areas.
A spokesman at the National Crime Agency said groups like these are expanding and increasing in number.
The spokesman said: “Albanian crime groups have established a high profile and degree of influence within UK organised crime, and have considerable access to the UK drug trafficking market, particularly cocaine.”
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Instagram has now taken down five of the Hellbanianz accounts.
A spokesman said: “We do not allow illegal behaviour, threats of physical harm or organised crime on Instagram. The account @hellbanian.z and related accounts have been removed for violating our community guidelines. We encourage anyone who comes across this type of content to report it via our in-app tools. We work 24/7 to review and remove anything that violates our terms.”
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