Albanian gangs run cannabis farms in UK on industrial scale

ALBANIAN gangs are cornering the market in cannabis farms as they exploit modern slavery laws to avoid prosecution, the National Crime Agency (NCA) has warned.

Investigators say Albanians have brought a ruthless professionalism to cannabis farming , displacing the Vietnamese as the main domestic producers of the drug.

After gaining a stranglehold over the cocaine market around London, Albanian gangs have in the past five years imported expertise gained from industrial-scale cannabis farming in their home country, according to the NCA.

“They have brought in their own cannabis growers, electricians, facilitators, hydroponic setups. Everything you need to grow it on an industrial scale,” said Ged McCann, an NCA drug expert.

“The biggest issue with cannabis is Albanians. With cannabis comes associated violence, mostly because other groups are trying to thieve off Albanians and vice versa. That will lead to violence, firearms and a lot of stabbings and kidnappings. It’s growing,” he said.

When police raid the disused industrial buildings or residential properties housing the cannabis farms, the “labourers” often claim to be victims.

An NCA source said: “They will claim they are victims of modern trafficking and should not be prosecuted. We believe they know what they’re doing. They are there to make good money.”

Mr McCann added: “Anecdotally, most cannabis seizures in the UK have an Albanian link.”

Albanian gangs are also dominant in the cocaine market in the South East of England, having established links with South American producers.