Albanian gangsters have controlled the cocaine market in Britain for two decades, the only exception being Liverpool, where locals dominate the underworld – for now.

Over the last 20 years Albanian gangs have gained control of Britain’s booming cocaine market after forming an alliance with deadly Latin American drug cartels. Geographically they seem to be strongest in North and East London, with Manchester close behind.

„Albanian drug gangs are everywhere in the UK but not in Liverpool. They have been warned,”

an expert, who asked not be named for safety reasons, told The Sun. Among the Albanian clans, the East London gang who call themselves the Hellbanianz stand out, boasting flashy cars and bundles of banknotes on Instagram.

They have been boosting their social media presence since 2017. “They are sending a bad message to young Albanians. By seeing such photos, they think the streets of UK are paved with gold,” an investigative journalist said. The gang has also been involved in the weapons trade, and does not shy away from murder, money laundering and violent robberies either.

Tony Saggers, the former head of drugs threat and intelligence at the National Crime Agency (NCA) said about Albanian gangs that

“It is important not to stereotype, but the Kosovan war led to Albanians pretending to be Kosovan in order to get asylum in the UK. Many of the people who came just wanted a better life, but there were criminals among them who were able to set up illicit networks „

The UK criminal has a get-rich-quick mentality while the Albanians’ strategy was get-rich-slow, so they have driven down the price of cocaine in the UK. They knew that if they expanded, they could undercut the market. They began to sell the drug at such low rates that consumers and eventually even other gangs bought from them. It also helped that their reputation preceded them.

“The Albanian criminals may be ruthless and potentially murderous when controlling their organised crime,” but when they come to the UK they try to be more charismatic and they use fear,”

said Saggers. This was also corroborated by investigative journalist Pete Walsh. He said, „This brought primo cocaine within price reach of younger gangs who previously had not been able to raise the money to afford large supplies – and who could now pass on some of the discount to a new swathe of customers.” He added:

„Tragically, however, this was often accompanied by lethal violence as these young gangs fought their own wars for territory and custom.”

The Hellbanianz are understood to traffic millions of pounds worth of drugs into the UK each year. Despite making their fortune in drugs, the Albanian gangs made their mark on the UK underworld with prostitution rackets in 1998. Nowadays, they are trying to enter the music industry, and flaunt their-ill gotten wealth in music videos, which have millions of views. In their lyrics, the gang makes no secret of how they are able to maintain the astonishing luxury that even Europe’s richest would envy.

„The various Albanian drug gangs are typically ten strong. The members will be assigned different tasks. They will have a driver, a minder and a cash collector,” an Albanian gang expert, who requested anonymity, told The Sun.

„Typically the gang members may be related and may all come from the same town in Albania.They have made a lot of money from selling coke in the UK, which they have used to buy land and property back in Albania,”

he added.