Police raid shuts down 'Bonnie And Clyde' style Albanian criminal gang behind £1m UK-wide burglary spree

Dramatic footage shows the moment when armed police raided a home linked to an organised criminal gang.

Detectives from several forces linked the gang to at least 44 burglaries across the country between December 2023 and July last year. The crooks targeted homes in wealthy neighbourhoods, stealing jewellery, designer handbags, watches and cash.

‘Bonnie and Clyde’ crime spree

A court heard they would set weekly targets for the amount of gold that they wanted to steal while Nikolli and his British girlfriend Jade Tubb, 33, wrote love letters referring to each other as "Bonnie and Clyde."

Five Albanian men - Endrit Nikolli (27), Kristian Gropcaj (30), George Lleshaj (31), Krisjian Dedndreaj (28) and Sidorjan Lleshi (26), all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary and conspiracy to possess criminal property, during hearings at Chester Crown Court on Friday 28 November 2025 and Tuesday 6 January 2026.

Nikolli and Lleshi also both admitted one additional count of burglary, in relation to two burglaries in Staffordshire in March 2024 and December 2023.

Premier League footballers targeted by criminal gang

The gang were rumbled when police launched an investigation into a series of burglaries across the eastern area of Cheshire, including incidents in Macclesfield, Weston and Willaston and Prestbury - home to many Premier League footballers.

Other force areas reported similar incidents across Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Staffordshire and detectives were able to link all the break-ins through footwear marks left at the scenes.

Officers then used Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology to identify vehicles which were present at all of these burglaries - including a red Ford Focus which was insured to Gropcaj.

UK-wide burglary spree on luxury homes

They also found that a hire car booked by Tubb had been used during many of the other burglaries.

Telephone checks revealed Gropcaj was in regular contact with Nikolli, Dedndreaj, and Lleshaj and the men met on a regular basis at a coffee shop in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham.

Cops were also able to establish that Nikolli was in a relationship with British woman Jade Tubb, 33, who has since pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess criminal property.

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

Handbags and watches recovered by police

Police carried out a series of raids at addresses in Walsall, Sutton Coldfield and Birmingham, and arrested Nikolli, Lleshaj, Gropcaj and Tubb.

Dedndreaj 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.

Evidence linked Albanian men to crimes

Several mobile phones were also recovered and officers found hundreds of images of the stolen items, along with messages which contained links to Google maps showing the scenes of the burglaries.

This included nine in Derbyshire, eight in Cheshire, two in Cleveland, two in Leicestershire, five in Nottinghamshire, seven in Staffordshire, two in Warwickshire and nine in West Mercia.

Officers also recovered messages which showed there was a sixth member of the gang – Sidorjan Lleshi, who was living in Sheffield.

A raid was conducted at Lleshi’s home on September 3 last year where the 26-year-old was arrested.

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

They pleaded guilty to the charges at Chester Crown Court on November 28 last year and on Tuesday (6/1).

Dedndreaj, Nikolli, and Lleshaj, of Walsall; Gropcaj, of Birmingham; and Lleshi, of Sheffield, were all remanded and will be sentenced at Chester Crown Court on February 20.

Tubb, also of Walsall, was released on bail. She will also be sentenced on February 20.

Watch the video above.