Thirteen men convicted of the wholesale supply of Class A drugs across Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and Devon are starting prison terms totalling 91 years.
In 2021, officers from the East Midlands Special Operations Unit’s (EMSOU) Regional Organised Crime Unit began investigating an organised crime gang run by Arber Alliu, aged 36, who was using his business, Bar Café Milano in Wellingborough Road, Northampton, as a front.
From it, Alliu was overseeing the sale of large volumes of cocaine to contacts in Barnstaple in Devon, as well as directly to users across Northamptonshire, with the help of his trusted associate Dritan Duka, aged 42.
Bruno Lepuri, aged 23, acted as the group’s delivery man, and was usually driven by one of four men – Ionut Turca, Bledar Hyska, Arif Behari and Mariglen Azizaj.
Duka, Lepuri and Turca were also responsible for arranging multiple trips to Milton Keynes, where Nicolajus Skolskis, aged 37, would buy quantities of cocaine for onward sale.
Skolskis was also in league with another man, 29-year-old Matas Svedas, around the supply of cannabis.
Simultaneously, under Alliu’s guidance, members of the gang were also making repeated trips to Barnstaple in Devon, where consignments of cocaine were sold to ‘downstream’ customers Samuel Phillips, aged 25, and Kai Roach, aged 29.
Lepuri was identified as making at least 14 trips to the South West between April 2021 and March 10, 2022, when a police-stop check on the A361 in Devon saw him arrested alongside Hyska and found to be in possession of around 250g of cocaine.
Undeterred, the group continued to make at least four more trips to Devon – including one made just two days afterwards, thought to be a replacement for the lost consignment.
These journeys were undertaken by another driver, 29-year-old Ramarjo Aliraj, Mariglen Azizaj, or both, with Elis Llanaj, aged 33, assisting in coordinating the logistics for the gang.
Lepuri’s arrest enabled police to unravel the gang’s street-level dealing in Northampton, with phone evidence showing he had been running two drug lines which were then taken over by Alliu, Turca and Behari, who each played a part in delivering wraps of cocaine direct to users.
With the net now pulled tight around the gang members and their wholesale customers, planned enforcement across the three counties during July, August and September 2022 saw all the conspirators arrested.
Search warrants resulted in further seizures of cocaine and cannabis, along with a total of more than £110,000 in criminally obtained cash.
Lepuri was arrested again, this time at Luton airport, where he was trying to board a flight to Albania carrying a significant amount of money.
When Alliu was arrested at his Abington home, a search revealed several phones linked to his activities, and £26,000 was also found in the basement of Bar Café Milano.
A search at Turca’s address revealed a hydraulic press for the wholesale preparation of cocaine, and an illegal CS spray branded ‘Armerican Style Nato Super Paralisant’.
Other searches uncovered designer watches including Rolex, Brietling, Versace and Tag Heur, and multiple phones.
Each of the men went on to be charged with conspiracy to supply offences – while some pleaded guilty, others went to trial, with all eventually convicted.
At hearings at Northampton Crown Court from late August to October this year, the 13 have been sentenced to a collective total of 91 years in prison.
A final two defendants in the case, men aged 27 and 39, will be sentenced on dates yet to be set.
A Northampton Crown Court hearing took place last week (December 6) regarding the 27-year-old, with his next appearance set for February 2024.
Senior investigating officer Detective Sergeant Chris Sewell said: “This great result comes down to the painstaking work carried out at EMSOU in order to dismantle a significant drug supply operation stretching across Northamptonshire and beyond.
“When we began our investigation we never dreamed the net would stretch as far as Devon, or involve the quantities of drugs we found evidence of.
“Throughout his illegal activities, Alliu was purporting to be a legitimate businessman and was a prominent member of the community in Northampton.
“Thanks to the diligence of our team, he has now been unmasked as a criminal who masterminded a significant illegal drug supply network, exploiting the addictions of others to make considerable profit for himself and his associates.
“Tackling drug harm is a matter of priority for Northamptonshire Police and I am really pleased our regional team has been able to bring down this significant criminal network and start proceedings to strip its members of their ill-gotten profits as they begin significant prison sentences."
Sentenced at Northampton Crown Court on August 24, 2023:
1. Arber Alliu, aged 36, of Cyclamen Close, Northampton: 14 years.
2. Dritan Duka, aged 42, of Adnitt Road, Northampton: 10 years and five months.
3. Bruno Lepuri, aged 23, of Grove Road, Northampton: 10 years and 10 months.
Sentenced at Northampton Crown Court on August 25, 2023:
4. Mariglen Azizaj, aged 28, of Goldings Road, Northampton: two years and 11 months.
5. Arif Behari, aged 52, of St Johns Street, Northampton: three years and seven months.
6. Nicolajus Skolskis, aged 37, of Colindale Street, Milton Keynes: 10 years and six months.
7. Matas Svedas, aged 29, of Pascal Mews, Oakgrove, Milton Keynes: five years.
Sentenced at Northampton Crown Court on September 7, 2023:
8. Romarjo Aliraj, aged 29, of Prentice Court, Northampton: two years and eight months.
9. Bledar Hyska, aged 48, of Limestone Grove, Houghton Regis, Dunstable: four years and six months.
10. Kai Smalldon Roach, aged 29, of Meadow Brook, Roundswell, Barnstaple, Devon: seven years and six months.
11. Elis Llanaj, aged 33, of St Johns Street, Northampton: four years and 10 months.
Sentenced at Northampton Crown Court on October 20, 2023:
12. Samuel Phillips, aged 25, Park Avenue, Sticklepath, Barnstaple, Devon: nine years and six months.
13. Ionut Turca, aged 32, of Cowper Street, Northampton: four years and nine months.
