Albanian gangsters who have cornered the market for cannabis in the UK using farms protected with booby traps are escaping prosecution by claiming to be slaves, The Times can reveal.
Specialist “gardeners” smuggled into the country illegally are set up in fortified houses and warehouses protected by hidden barbed-wire mesh and staircases rigged to fall beneath intruders.
Gardeners arrested in raids on the farms frequently use systems designed to protect victims of modern slavery, allowing them to avoid being taken into custody. Police have found the same suspects at new locations and the National Crime Agency (NCA) said that the claims of victimhood were “really contentious”.
The gangs have employed violence, guns and kidnap to wrest control of the country’s cannabis supply over the past three years. Cultivation had previously been dominated by Vietnamese groups.
The NCA said that the Albanian syndicates dominated the trade across London and the southeast, and that north of Birmingham their control had grown “exponentially” in recent years.
It said the Albanians had the support of “professional enablers” made up of solicitors, accountants and translators.
An officer from the NCA task force set up to tackle western Balkan criminality in the UK said there had been a significant increase in Albanians using the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), intended for victims of modern slavery, in the past three years, adding: “It’s really contentious whether those claims are valid or not . . . something that’s investigated quite frequently.”
The officer, whose role means he cannot be named, said the gangs were also involved in cocaine trafficking. He said that the vast sums of money they made were generally packed as cash and sent back to Albania.
In the Middlesbrough area police have reported raiding cannabis farms more than once a month and the suspects are largely Albanian. Armelind Rexha, 22, entered the UK on a student visa but grew cannabis valued at up to £672,000 in a disused restaurant in Redcar. A judge accepted his claims that he had been coerced into running the farm, where he was found with phones, a tablet and £200 in cash.
A government source said the findings highlighted why Priti Patel, the home secretary, wanted to overhaul the Modern Slavery Act. They said: “This is proof of how dangerous criminals and gangsters are increasingly abusing our world-leading modern slavery laws.”
A total of 10,613 potential victims of trafficking, slavery and forced labour were referred to the NRM last year, 452 of whom were Albanian, according to the Home Office. It said it had seen an “alarming increase” in illegal migrants seeking slavery referrals, which had enabled them to avoid immigration detention, frustrate efforts to deport them and in some cases escape removal.
Once the authorities have deemed there are “reasonable grounds” to believe an individual is a victim of modern slavery, they are protected from removal pending a final decision on their case. About 90 per cent of referrals meet this threshold. Final decisions take an average of 12 months.
Patel is consulting on introducing a new “public order” definition to enable the authorities to refuse NRM protections to individuals who have committed serious crimes or pose a serious risk to national security.
Dame Sara Thornton, the independent anti-slavery commissioner, said: “Victims of human trafficking who have been forced to commit criminal activities have often been identified in cannabis factories and police should always consider whether an individual arrested for cannabis cultivation might actually be a victim. It is vital that there is a thorough investigation at the earliest stages so that victims are identified and organised criminals thwarted.”
Inside homes and warehouses across the country, the Albanian “green rush” is spreading.
The “gardeners” protect their crops with false floors, missing steps and electrified door handles; entrances give way to barbed wire meshes, and bannisters are lined with knives and broken glass.
The syndicates have been setting up hydroponic cannabis farms with UV lights, carefully controlled climates and studiously managed soil for three years. Councils and fire services have issued warnings about the gangs bypassing meters to access free electricity.
On housing estates in Teesside, Blackpool, Northampton and Swansea rooms are lined with foil, rewired and filled with the potent “skunk” cannabis plants.
In Southend-on-Sea in Essex an Albanian gang was caught growing 3,000 plants with a yield estimated to be worth £2 million in five warehouses within 270 yards of a police station. Emiljan Gjura, 31, and Ermir Reshiti, 35, were each jailed in July for two years for their part in a “sophisticated operation”.
The gardeners are invariably young Albanian men who tell the police that they have been forced to grow the drug. They are flagged up to the National Referral Mechanism as victims of modern slavery and transferred to supported housing.
Derbyshire constabulary has taken a two-pronged approach, using illegal immigration legislation alongside drugs offences to ensure that the “gardeners” cannot slip through the net. Assistant Chief Constable Dave Kirby said that Albanians were frequently, and dubiously, claiming to be victims of slavery. “There’s no doubt that it’s a well-known tactic,” he said.
“You’ve got to imagine that these very well-organised criminal groups will be smart enough to say, ‘All right, this is what we do then — everybody, this is what you say.’ ”
He called on the public to be vigilant around the signs of exploitation and to look out for mains electricity having been tampered with, the smell of cannabis and any sign that a house is being adapted for the purpose of cultivating the drug.
