Get you up to speed: Video Captures ‘Albanian Crime Gang Raiding Cannabis Farm’ | News UK
Footage on TikTok shows an Albanian gang raiding a cannabis ‘crop house’, intimidating the occupant while using infrared scanners to locate their target.
Local security sources stated that an Albanian gang with a ‘vice-like’ grip on Southgate station is linked to trafficking and drug-related activities.
Authorities are aware of the Albanian gang’s TikTok activity but have yet to apprehend any members involved in the cannabis crop house raids.
What we know so far
Footage has emerged showing an Albanian gang, clad in balaclavas, reportedly raiding a cannabis ‘crop house’. The video, posted on TikTok, features masked individuals using infrared scanners to detect heat from cannabis grow lamps.
The clip includes a violent rap soundtrack and displays the gang intimidating a bewildered man, presumably a resident or worker, while they capture footage of themselves among cannabis plants. One section of the video features the caption ‘f*** you’ as they appear to steal the plants.
This incident highlights the rising trend of Albanian gangs exploiting high-tech methods in drug-related crimes. Locals have reported fears surrounding their influence, particularly in areas dubbed ‘Little Tirana’ in north London, where crime, including drug trafficking and protection rackets, is said to be rampant. A source indicated that residents feel a lack of safety, stating, “We know who they are and where they operate out of,” urging police action.
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Footage shows ‘Albanian crime gang raiding cannabis grow house’ | News UK
Footage appears to show an Albanian gang clad in balaclavas filming themselves on TikTok raiding a cannabis ‘crop house’.
The chilling post shows masked men using infrared scanners on normal suburban streets to locate the heat from cannabis grow lamps. Once they have found a target, they make their way inside.
They pose for the camera with a violent trap song accompanying the footage with ‘f*** you’ written as a caption as the gang appear to rob the house.
The clip shows a bewildered-looking man in shorts and a T-shirt who apparently lives or works in the house being intimidated by the gang. The camera focuses on the raiders clutching cannabis plants.
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The ‘crop houses’ are kitted out with high-tech lighting and heating to aid the growth of the plants in what can be a highly lucrative business.
The property, which looks like an ordinary suburban house, cannot be identified.
Other footage posted on the same TikTok account shows a masked member of the ‘gang’ climbing up the side of a house before clambering through an open window.
Another shows an apparent reconnaissance mission in which the gang hide and watch a crop house.
Some of the footage is tagged with Albanian flags and accompanied by slogans in Albanian.
(Picture: @TikTok)
The rap themes are charged with violence and knives are mentioned. But no weapons are featured in the clips.
In one of the films the ‘gang’ members are seen holed up in what appears to be a safe house.
The latest ‘crop house’ footage is chillingly similar to that posted by another Albanian ‘crew’ this time in east London.
In Barking, a heavily armed Albanian gang called the Hellbanianz filmed themselves brandishing weapons while flaunting cash, Rolexes while driving Ferraris.
They ran the Gascoigne estate where their ‘soldiers’ lived. Their brash online posts eventually led the police to the door and some members have been convicted.
Meanwhile the WTX exposed a criminal network operating in Southgate, north London, where people trafficking and drug deals are bringing in huge sums.
An Albanian gang with its centre of operations around Southgate station has a ‘vice-like’ grip on the area, according to local security sources.
Such is the prevalence of the crew that the area around the station is known to locals as ‘Little Tirana’ after the Albanian capital.
A source told WTX: ‘We call it little Tirana around here. The Albanian gangs have a grip on the community and there is a lot of fear about being taken out [killed]. They have taken over some of the businesses and have threatened others.
‘There have been connections with people trafficking, protection rackets and drug dealing. It’s their turf for sure and they hide in plain sight.They have taken over some of the businesses and have threatened others.
‘There have been connections with people trafficking, protection rackets and drug dealing. It’s their turf for sure and they hide in plain sight. We know who they are and where they operate out of. It has been reported to the police they need to get a grip of this.’
(Picture: John Dunne)
Other areas of the capital have also seen the rise of Albanian gangs.
When raiders stormed an Albanian cannabis factory to steal the product their machetes and knives proved no match for the handguns the Albanians pulled to defend their territory.
A court heard that the robbers who were trying to steal from the factory in Croydon had ‘brought knives to a gunfight’.
The Shqiptare is the term used by the National Crime Agency to describe the Albanian crime syndicates.
They sell huge amount of cocaine smuggled into into the UK via Latin America.
It is believed they run a majority of the estimated £5bn cocaine market. They are buying for up to £5,000 a kilo according to police estimates. They started selling for less profit than their rivals to corner the market.
The supply of cocaine and other drugs on an industrial scale has provided the Albanian mob with funds to almost ‘buy up’ communities.