Cocaine bust
EIGHT MEN FROM ‘HIGHLY ORGANISED’ GANG JAILED FOR DRUG DEALING ACROSS LONDON AND THE SOUTH WEST
EIGHT men have been jailed for 44 years for their roles in a gang which was involved in the wholesale supply of cocaine across London and south west England.
The organised crime group was run by Albanian national Lulezim Zefi, 36, of Turnpike Lane, Uxbridge , and used professional couriers to transport and distribute drugs.
Four of his couriers, fitted with “highly sophisticated concealments”, were arrested after 9kg of cocaine was exchanged in a Brentford retail park on April 27.
Officers from NCA and Metropolitan Police watched as Admir Simeqi, 41, of Ashton Road, Bristol, delivered 3kgs of cocaine to Gergi Marku, 25, of Wadham Gardens, Primrose Hill.
Simeqi, using his car as a base, then delivered 2kgs of cocaine to Admir Bici, 26, and Ramadan Doci, 26 – both of no fixed address who were arrested shortly after.
A further 4kgs of cocaine was found hidden in a hydraulic concealment in Simeqi’s car boot after he demonstrated it could be opened and closed by pressing dashboard buttons and using a USB cable.
The overall amount of cocaine seized could have had a street value of £720,000.
Shortly after, group leader Zefi met with his deputies Valon Bajgora, 34, of Mortimer Cresent, Kilburn , and Valentin Malocaj, 36, of Heritage Avenue, Colindale, where they were all arrested.
The gang had been under surveillance by Metropolitan Police’s Organised Crime Partnership, who had previously seen Zefi hand over £153,000 outside Bajgora’s flat to Kamel Safieddine.
Safieddine, 46, of Capland Street, Marylebone , was arrested immediately after the exchange.
When searching properties owned by gang members, officers discovered a further £110,000 in cash and a number of weighing scales and equipment containing traces of cocaine.
Also found at Marku’s address was a Cash Seizure Notice issued by NCA on April 7 to the driver of a Macedonian lorry who tried to leave the UK with €212,000 concealed in the trailer. The cash seized from the lorry tested positive for Bajgora’s fingerprints.
Eight members of the gang were sentenced at Kingston Crown Court on Friday December 1.
Gang ringleader Zefi was sentenced to 12 years in prison while Malocaj and Bajgora were jailed for eight years and two years and eight months respectively.
Marku and Doci were both sentenced to six years, with Simeqi given six years and nine months.
Bici and Safieddine were sentenced to two years and eight months and one year and nine months respectively.
Speaking after the eight men were sentenced, Matt McMillan, from the Organised Crime Partnership at Metropolitan Police , said this investigation has made a “significant dent in a criminal network”.
He said: “This was a highly organised and determined criminal group involved in the wholesale distribution of cocaine on an industrial scale. In an attempt to hide their illicit activity, the group’s couriers fitted their cars with specially constructed hydraulic concealments that could hold up to 15kgs of cocaine at one time.
“As well as making a significant dent in a criminal network, this investigation saw the removal of hundreds of thousands pounds in revenue which can no longer go on to fund further criminality.”