Organised crime gang flooded Midlands with cocaine worth £1m

Top row, from left to right: Alban Krasniqi, Edmund Haziri, Edward Haziri, Grazmend Hoxha, Samuel Stoica. Bottom row, from left to right: Joshua Garrigan, Kristi Prifi, Razvan Manoliu, Simion Stoica and Daniel Stavrat

Members of an organised crime gang have been jailed for more than 70 years for their roles in a major drug dealing network.

Police said the gang pumped cocaine into parts of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Staffordshire, before it was dismantled last year.

Detectives said the dealers funded lavish lifestyles by "poisoning" the streets with drugs.

Its leaders and their inner circle have been jailed at Derby Crown Court.

Derbyshire Police said the operation, known as the "Eddie Line", was controlled by Albanian brothers Edmund and Edward Haziri.

Ringleader Edmund Haziri was arrested at his home in London as part of simultaneous raids across the country

The force said a relative of the Haziris', Gazmend Hoxha, would travel to London from his home in Leicester to pick up the drugs and drop off the proceeds of the sales, before returning to the Midlands to resupply the gang's numerous dealers.

Those dealers then sold the drugs, often wrapped in lottery ticket stubs, to as many as 145 customers a day, making the gang hundreds of thousands of pounds over the course of a year.

Derby Crown Court heard that the gang is thought to have processed 9kg of cocaine, with an estimated street value of up to £1.1m ($1.37m).

The Haziris' drugs empire came to an end in March after a series of of dawn raids across the country. Nine men have since been jailed for their roles in the enterprise.

Alban Krasniqi was said to have thrown the "drugs line" phone out of his bedroom window before he was arrested

The last of those, Razvan Manoliu, was sentenced on Friday.

The Haziri brothers, Hoxha, Krasniqi, the Stoicas and Prifti, were all found guilty by a jury at an earlier hearing. They were sentenced on 18 May.

Garrigan, Manoliu and Stavrat pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing.

Det Insp Kane Martin, who led the multi-force investigation, said: "The 'Eddie Line' was responsible for poisoning our streets with harmful drugs but the gang simply didn't care about the damage they left behind.

"They reaped the rewards of their crimes, living lavish lifestyles in London and elsewhere, while the cocaine they pumped into the Midlands destroyed families and relationships."

The following defendants were convicted of conspiring to supply cocaine:

• Edmund Haziri, 36, of Roundlyn Gardens, Bromley, London, was jailed for 15 years

• Edward Haziri, 35, of Shardeloes Road, Lewisham, London, was jailed for 15 years and six months

• Grazmend Hoxha, 47, of Denis Close, Leicester, was jailed for 11 years

• Alban Krasniqi, 35, of Blackheath Hill, Blackheath, London, was, jailed for nine years

• Samuel Stoica, 26, of Burton Crescent, Wolverhampton, was jailed for eight years and three months

• Simion Stoica, 22, of Jeremiah Road, Wolverhampton, was jailed for three years and six months

• Kristi Prifti, 24, of Cambridge Street, Leicester, was jailed for four years

• Joshua Garrigan, 32, of Charnborough Road, Coalville, was jailed for two years and eight months

• Razvan Manoliu, 28, of Village Mews, Burton-upon-Trent, jailed for two years and eight months

• Daniel Stavrat, 30, of Dupont Close, Leicester, due to be sentenced next month