The case involved several different police forces across England. The gang targeted expensive houses backing onto fields, scaling up drain pipes to reach balconies of properties
Sophie Fagone Buscimese Trainee Reporter
16:29, 14 Apr 2026Updated 16:39, 14 Apr 2026
Photo show police preparing to raid a property(Image: Cheshire Police)
Members of an organised crime gang which stole more than a million pounds‘ worth of valuables from households across the country have been sentenced to more than 38 years in prison.
Four Albanian men and a British woman have been sentenced for the roles they played in a high-value series of burglaries during which about £1 million worth of goods were stolen.
Kristian Gropcaj, 30, George Lleshaj, 31, Krisjian Dedndreaj, 28, Sidorjan Lleshi, 26, and Jade Tubb, 33, were sentenced at Chester Crown Court on Monday, April 13, and Tuesday, April 14.
Dedndreaj, of Crabtree Road, Walsall, has been jailed for nine years for conspiracy to commit burglary and a concurrent sentence of five years for conspiracy to possess criminal property.
Lleshaj, of Crabtree Road, Walsall, has been jailed for nine years for conspiracy to commit burglary and a concurrent sentence of four-and-a-half years for conspiracy to possess criminal property.
Police mugshots of five of the defendants(Image: Derbyshire Constabulary)
Lleshi, of Durlstone Drive, Sheffield, has been jailed for 10 years and nine 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.
Gropcaj, of Gas Street, Birmingham, was jailed for 10 years for conspiracy to commit burglary and a concurrent sentence of five-and-a-half years for conspiracy to possess criminal property.
Tubb, also of Crabtree Road, Walsall, was sentenced to a year in prison, suspended for two years, for possession of criminal property.
A sixth defendant Endrit Nikolli, 29, of Crabtree Road, Walsall, is due to be sentenced on Wednesday, April 29.
Photo shows some of the stolen items – high-value watches, designer handbags and a signed England shirt(Image: Cheshire Police)
Following a complex and lengthy investigation involving several different police forces, officers were able to link the gang to at least 59 burglaries across the UK.
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.
Across Derbyshire they targeted three properties in Quarndon, two in Derby, plus others in Allestree, Ridgeway, Holmesfield and Duffield.
Temporary Detective Inspector Ryan McVeigh said the investigation had been the largest fraud case of his career.
Sidorjan Lleshi pictured posing with cash(Image: Cheshire Police)
It started in October 2024 after the force recognised a reemergence of burglary patterns and subsequently set up a small team to look into the cases.
“They were grouped by their MO, we found they were mostly targeting affluent areas, expensive houses backing onto fields or woodland,” DI McVeigh said.
“The gang would climb onto balconies using drain pipes and steal items including cash, designer clothing and trainers.
“We wanted to make sure we did everything we could to identify the offenders, and, after making contact with other forces who were facing a similar problem, we began investigating together – initially with departments in Cheshire, Staffordshire and Nottinghamshire.
“We followed every lead we could, and Staffordshire Police managed to run a forensic identification on one of the suspects, Endrit Nikolli, after which we tried to find anything that could be linked to him.”
The team then identified his girlfriend and three other suspects, Kristian Gropcaj, George Lleshaj, and Krisjian Dedndreaj.
In July, the team identified three addresses and scheduled a strike day, on which they arrested four out of five suspects within 10 minutes of each other.
The fifth suspect, Dedndreaj, was arrested the following day after having travelled to London.
All suspects were interviewed and charged, and, after enquiries into mobile phones, Sidorjan Lleshi was identified as a sixth suspect and found to be living in Sheffield.
In September 2025, Lleshi was arrested following a second strike day.
During searches at all identified properties, designer goods, phones, watches and jewellery were seized, some of which were identified as stolen.
A burglary kit, which consisted of a rucksack, a pair of gloves, screwdrivers and radios, was found at Lleshi’s address, and he was charged and remanded in custody.
The five Albanian men, Endrit Nikolli, 27, Kristian Gropcaj, 30, George Lleshaj, 31, Krisjian Dedndreaj, 28, and Sidorjan Lleshi, 26, were found to have stolen over £1 million worth of belongings and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary and conspiracy to possess criminal property during hearings at Chester Crown Court on Friday, November 28, 2025, and Tuesday, January 6, 2026.
Nikolli and Lleshi also both admitted one additional count of burglary which related to two burglaries in Staffordshire in March 2024 and December 2023.
On January 7 British woman Jade Tubb, 33, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess criminal property.
“The impact of the burglary is massive,” DI McVeigh said.
“The targeted homes should be a safe place, where children are raised and families live.
“These people invaded the safe spaces, and a lot of damage has been done and trauma caused,
“We can’t take the trauma away of course, but we will try to recover as much property as we can for the victims of these crimes.”
He explained that some property had been returned, but a lot of the stolen items had already been sold on.
“This has been the largest burglary investigation I’ve been involved in, the collaboration has exceeded anything I’ve ever seen,” he added.
“We identified over 40 offences in eight different policing areas, the fact that it was so spread out made it difficult to identify patterns, but we had to make sure we identified as many offenders as possible.
“It was of course very satisfying to bring this string of burglaries to a close, but it does not take away from the fact that an offence has been committed.
“Every step of the investigation serves as a reminder that trauma has been caused.
“I want to urge everyone to join or set up a Neighbourhood Watch, police can’t be everywhere at all times so we need the public to be our eyes and ears and call us when they spot anything.
“Home owners should also consider anti-climb paints, CCTV cameras with motion alerts and planting thorny bushes at access points to stop burglars from gaining access.
“Windows and doors on the ground and first floor should always be locked, and I strongly recommend marking valuable property with your postcode in the case it is stolen.”
