The number of Albanians in UK prisons has almost quadrupled in five years as the nation’s ruthless drug gangs flood our streets with cheap cocaine.
Ministry of Justice figures show the number held had risen from 212 in 2013 to 760 by the end of last year – and that 433 of them are in prison for drug offences.
The Mirror reported last month on how Britain’s £5billion cocaine market is now largely controlled by the ruthless Albanian mafia – or Mafia Shqiptare.
It has forged direct relationships with Colombian drug cartels, bypassing third parties and selling the Class A drug less expensively.
Cocaine is now at its cheapest since 1990.
Mohammed Qasim, a research fellow at Leeds Beckett University and an expert in gangs, said: “The Albanians have got this serious reputation so nobody tries to challenge them. We’ve got younger Albanians coming over solely to make money from the drug market.
“Some of them have big mansions in Albania.”
He added the Albanians’ rise to prominence could also be linked to the surge in knife crime across the country.