Members of an Albanian crime gang have been sentenced to more than 38 years behind bars.

Kristian Gropcaj, George Pepa, Sidorjan Lleshi, and Jade Tubb were sentenced at Chester Crown Court on Monday, April 13, and Tuesday, April 14, for the roles they played in a series of high value burglaries across the UK.

Police estimate the gang to have stolen more than £1 million worth of items across at least 59 burglaries, including incidents in Macclesfield and Prestbury.

A sixth defendant, 29-year-old Endrit Nikolli of Crabtree Road in Walsall, is due to be sentenced on Wednesday, April 29.

Detective Chief Inspector David Worthington, of Macclesfield Proactive CID, added: "As this case demonstrates, if you commit crime in Cheshire, you will be caught and you will be brought to justice.

"Our officers are committed to travelling the length and breadth of the country to ensure that those who cause harm in our communities are held accountable for their actions.

"I hope that the sentencing of these offenders will provide some reassurance for the victims in this case and allow them to move forward with their lives.

"I also hope that this case acts as a warning to anyone else who is thinking of coming to Cheshire to commit crime."

The investigation against the gang began in October 2024 when detectives at Macclesfield Proactive CID became aware of a series of burglaries across the eastern area of Cheshire, including incidents in Macclesfield, Prestbury, Weston and Willaston.

On each occasion the offenders would typically gain entry by using ladders to access first floor windows and balconies. Once inside they would ransack the properties, stealing jewellery, designer handbags, watches and cash. 

After a number of local enquiries, officers engaged in meetings with other forces across the UK who reported similar incidents in their areas.

Following collaboration between Derbyshire Police, Nottinghamshire Police and Staffordshire Police, detectives from Macclesfield were able to link the incidents in Cheshire to several others across the UK through footwear marks left at the scenes.

After linking the incidents, officers used Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology to identify vehicles which were present at all of these incidents.

Through this work officers discovered that a red Ford Focus which was insured to Gropcaj had been present during many of the incidents. They also found that a hire car booked by Tubb had been used during many of the other burglaries.

Telephone checks were subsequently conducted on Gropcaj which revealed he had been in regular contact with Nikolli, Dedndreaj, and Pepa. Further enquiries revealed that the four men had been meeting on a regular basis at a coffee shop in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham.

In addition, officers were also able to establish that Tubb was in a relationship with Nikolli.

Traces of DNA from Nikolli had also been found at the scene of a burglary in Staffordshire.

Following a culmination of months of investigation work, on Wednesday, July 2, officers from Macclesfield Proactive CID and Cheshire Police Serious and Organised Crime Unit led a series of raids at addresses in Walsall, Sutton Coldfield and Birmingham, leading to the arrests of Nikolli, Pepa, Gropcaj and Tubb.

The raids were supported by officers from Staffordshire Police, Derbyshire Police and Nottinghamshire Police.

Dedndreaj was not present at the time of the warrants, but he was later arrested in Surrey by officers from the Serious and Organised Crime Unit at Cheshire Constabulary.

During the raids officers recovered 13 designer handbags, along with 14 watches worth almost £17,000.

Several mobile phones were also recovered during the warrants, and during analysis officers recovered hundreds of images of the stolen items, along with messages which contained links to Google maps which correlated with the scene of the burglaries.

In addition, officers recovered messages which showed there was a sixth member of the gang – Sidorjan Lleshi, who was living in Sheffield. A raid was subsequently conducted at Lleshi's home on Wednesday, September 3, where the 26-year-old was arrested.

All six defendants were later charged with conspiracy to commit burglary and conspiracy to possess criminal property.

Through all of the evidence gathered, officers were able to link the gang to at least 59 burglaries across the UK. These included eight in Cheshire, two in Cleveland, nine in Derbyshire, two in Leicestershire, five in Nottinghamshire, seven in Staffordshire, two in Warwickshire and nine in West Mercia.

The estimated total value of the items stolen is in excess of £1 million and while some items have been recovered, the vast majority are believed to have been sold on.

Following the sentencing, Detective Sergeant Laura Fox, of Macclesfield Proactive CID said: "I would like to take this opportunity to thank our colleagues at Derbyshire Police, Staffordshire Police and Nottinghamshire Police for all the support that they have provided. This investigation is a result of a detailed collaboration between forces across several months, with an unwavering commitment and tenacity to identify those responsible and bring them to justice.

"Nikolli, Gropcaj, Dedndreaj, Pepa, Lleshi and Tubb were all members of a high-level organised crime gang responsible for at least 59 high value burglaries across the UK.

"All of the incidents were carefully orchestrated, with the gang researching their targets before committing their crimes, even expanding their crime spree across multiple forces in an effort to go undetected.

"The gang specifically targeted wealthy victims, with the aim of stealing as much high value property as possible. Between them, they even set weekly targets for the amount of gold that they wanted to steal.

"Nikolli, Gropcaj, Dedndreaj, Pepa and Lleshi were all responsible for conducting the burglaries, while Tubb was happy to spend their ill-gotten gains.

"Throughout our investigation it has been clear that the gang had absolutely no regard for the impact that their offences would have on the victims. Instead, they regularly gloated about their crimes and shared images of ill-gotten gains.

"Thankfully, as a result of the evidence gathered during the course of the investigation, all six defendants had no option but to plead guilty to the charges and are now facing the consequences of their actions."

Sentences

• Krisjian Dedndreaj, 28 and of Crabtree Road, Walsall jailed for 9 years for conspiracy to commit burglary and a concurrent sentence of 5 years for conspiracy to possess criminal property.
• George Pepa, 31 and of Crabtree Road, Walsall jailed for 9 years for conspiracy to commit burglary and a concurrent sentence of 4½ years for conspiracy to possess criminal property.
• Sidorjan Lleshi, 26 and of Durlstone Drive, Sheffield, jailed for 10 years and 9 months for conspiracy to commit burglary, one count of burglary and conspiracy to possess criminal property. An additional 15 counts of burglary were also taken into consideration.
• Kristian Gropcaj, 30 and of Gas Street, Birmingham; jailed for 10 years for conspiracy to commit burglary and a concurrent sentence of 5½ years for conspiracy to possess criminal property.
• Jade Tubb, 33 and also of Crabtree Road, Walsall, sentenced to one year in prison suspended for two years, for possession of criminal property.

Following the conclusion of the case, Cheshire Police has now launched an appeal to trace the rightful owners of hundreds of suspected stolen items which were recovered during the investigation.

These include designer handbags, jewellery, watches and clothing, as well as other items.

For more details visit the Operation Ambler page on the Cheshire Police website here.