Albanian criminal gangs have set up a new service in England, offering to build and equip illegal cannabis grow houses in residential properties.

British media outlet GB News has published an article focusing on the phenomenon, highlighting that the gangs advertise their services on social media and even offer to dismantle the grow houses after cultivation is complete.

GB News says the social media advertisements directly target Britain’s Albanian community, which numbers around 150,000 people.

According to the British outlet, the criminal groups provide seedlings, hydroponic equipment, heat lamps and irrigation systems, converting entire premises for cannabis cultivation within a matter of hours.

It reports that Albanian criminal gangs now control the vast majority of cannabis-related criminal activity in Britain, having gradually taken control of the market from Vietnamese criminal groups over the past decade.

As a result, cannabis-related criminal activity is considered one of the factors fuelling much of the gang violence on British streets, as criminal groups fight to secure the largest possible share of this illegal market.

Full article from GB News

GB News has uncovered an openly advertised new service run by Albanian criminal gangs, which offer to set up illegal cannabis farms in homes across the United Kingdom. The gangs are now advertising on social media, offering a “full service” to build and equip premises where cannabis is grown. Posing as legitimate construction companies, the criminal groups arrive in vans loaded with cannabis seedlings, hydroponic equipment and heat lamps.

Within hours of arriving at a property, these criminal teams can transform entire rooms into cannabis-growing facilities. GB News has obtained several videos showing this new, professionally organised criminal operation in action.

The gangs modify the property’s electrical wiring to power the numerous heat lamps and irrigation system needed to grow the plants. They even insulate the building, lining rooms with reflective materials to retain heat and make detection by police helicopters and drones more difficult, as these can identify the distinctive heat loss through the roofs of buildings where cannabis is being grown.

Other disturbing videos show the gangs installing bars on windows and doors, both to protect the cannabis farms from robberies by rival groups and to hinder the police in the event of an inspection or raid. Once the plants are fully grown, harvested and sold, the gangs even offer a clean-up service: they dismantle the farm, clear out the rooms and return the property to its normal condition.

A source from the world of organised crime told GB News: “This is incredibly open. Criminal gangs have become much more sophisticated.”

According to the source, people tempted to enter the drug trade no longer need specialised knowledge.

“You only have to give the gangs a share of the profits and they provide everything you need, from the plants and pots to the heat lamps.”

GB News understands that the social media advertisements directly target Britain’s Albanian community, which numbers around 150,000 people.

According to the report, Albanian criminal gangs now control the vast majority of cannabis-related criminal activity in Britain, having gradually taken control of the market from Vietnamese criminal groups over the past decade. The illegal cannabis trade is enormous and is estimated to be worth more than £2.5 billion a year.

For street-level dealers, the cannabis trade can even be more profitable than selling Class A drugs such as cocaine. As a result, cannabis-related criminal activity is considered one of the factors fuelling much of the gang violence on British streets, as criminal groups fight to secure the largest possible share of this illegal market.

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