A high-level Albanian crime gang has been jailed after using Rightmove to help them steal up to £3m worth of items from people’s homes.
The group was linked to at least 59 high-value burglaries across the country, targeting wealthy people and stealing designer items, including jewellery, watches, and handbags, Cheshire Police said.
Four of the men were sentenced to more than 38 years in prison at Chester Crown Court on Tuesday, while another man is awaiting his sentence.
Detective Sergeant Laura Fox said: “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.”
Sussex Police told The Independent that the criminals had used Rightmove to help select targets as it can include floor plans of properties.
The investigation into the group began in October 2024 after the force became aware of a series of burglaries across the eastern area of Cheshire, in which the offenders had tried to gain entry by using ladders to access first-floor windows and balconies.
They would then ransack the properties, stealing jewellery, designer handbags, watches and cash, police said.
With the help of forces across the country, Macclesfield detectives were able to link the incidents in Cheshire to several others across the UK, thanks to footwear marks left at the scenes.
Officers then discovered that a red Ford Focus insured by Kristian Gropcaj, 30, had been present during many of the incidents.
After looking through his telephone records, police could see that he had been in regular contact with the other offenders and had been meeting them regularly at a coffee shop in Birmingham’s jewellery quarter.
They were also able to discover that one of the offenders, Endrit Nikolli, 29, who will be sentenced next week, was in a relationship with Jade Tubb, 33, who was helping the group.
Tubb was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years, for possession of criminal property.
The force’s organised crime unit led raids at several addresses, which resulted in the arrests of George Pepa, 31, Nikolli, Gropcaj and Tubb.
Officers recovered 13 designer handbags and 14 watches worth almost £17,000 during the raids, and also obtained several mobile phones containing hundreds of images of the stolen items.
Krisjian Dedndreaj, 28, who was not present at the time of the warrants, was later arrested in Surrey.
Messages revealed there was a sixth member of the gang, Sidorjan Lleshi, 26, who was living in Sheffield. A raid was subsequently conducted at his home in September, and he was arrested.
All six defendants were later charged with conspiracy to commit burglary and conspiracy to possess criminal property.
“Nikolli, Gropcaj, Dedndreaj, Pepa and Lleshi were all responsible for conducting the burglaries, while Tubb was happy to spend their ill-gotten gains,” Ms Fox said.
“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.”
Cheshire Police have launched an appeal to find the owners of hundreds of suspected stolen items that were recovered during the investigation.
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