'Kingpin' of multi-million pound cocaine gang jailed for 24 years

Helios Nanaj sent pictures of himself wearing a £10,000 Rolex watch and designer sunglasses to contacts

The "kingpin" of a drugs gang who imported millions of pounds worth of cocaine has been jailed for 24 years.

Helios Nanaj, 37, of Smugglers Way, Wandsworth, London, was found guilty at Gloucestershire Crown Court for importing and supplying drugs.

Judge Rupert Lowe said he was the "big boss" and the "chief organising mind" of the gang.

Gloucestershire Police said it is the force's "biggest" drugs prosecution and has had a huge impact on crime levels.

Nanaj was found guilty on 7 December of four counts of conspiracy to supply a controlled Class A drug and one of conspiracy to import drugs.

Originally from Albania, he was running a wide reaching criminal network importing hundreds of kilos of cocaine into the UK and distributing the illicit drugs into Gloucestershire and around the country using multiple couriers and safe houses.

The court heard Nanaj entered the UK illegally in the back of lorry when he was 15-years-old and, by his own boast, said he had been involved in organised crime for 20 years.

Nanaj also sent photos of stacks of cash to his contacts

Sentencing Nanaj earlier, Judge Lowe said: "Turning to organised crime in your adopted country was a foolish and dangerous way to provide for you and your family, besides being morally wrong.

"You put your family at risk of losing you - it is your doing that they've lost you for so long."

Det Insp Matt Phillips, from Gloucestershire Police's serious and organised crime unit, said: "We think this represents Gloucestershire's biggest drug prosecution.

"Taking out someone like Mr Nanaj really has an impact on the drugs that are available locally and we did see a rise in drug prices as a result of his arrest.

"He was a really significant player, he was able to arrange the importation of two hundreds of kilos of drugs at a time and distribute them.

"Within the UK we would say there aren't too many people above him."

Helios Nanaj was found guilty of conspiracy to supply cocaine

Messages found by police on Nanaj's phone indicated that he was also teaching other high level drug dealers in how to set up their own cocaine importation business.

Det Insp Phillips said: "The evidence suggests he supplied probably over 500kilos of cocaine and at one point he was complaining that he had £1.6m he couldn't move abroad as a result."

Nanaj imported cocaine into the country through several avenues

The operation to uncover Nanaj's drugs network started at a local level when police arrested a Gloucestershire dealer with 2kg of cocaine, Det Insp Phillips said.

"We could identify the courier that had bought that from London to the country," he said.

"When the courier was arrested, we found an EncroChat encrypted phone and it was then a breakthrough working with the National Crime Agency that identified Mr Nanaj as the upstream or the Kingpin as you like."

The local dealer used to link Nanaj to his crimes was Dhimitri Gjini, who was arrested on 8 May 2020 in possession of over £60,000 after supplying 2kgs of cocaine into Gloucester. He was later jailed for over 10 years.

Det Insp Matt Phillips said taking Nanaj off the streets had a big impact on the local trade of drugs

Police were able to link Nanaj to an Encrochat phone because he asked for the personal handle of 'Boboku'. Nanja would later tell contacts that was his nickname for his five-year-old son.

Det Insp Phillips explained that Ninaj "liked the finer things in life" and searches of his home - which had a view overlooking the Thames in Wandsworth - found it full of £40,000 worth of designer clothes and shoes.

Nanaj had been claiming to be a builders' labourer and messages show he was trying to get his money to Amsterdam or back to Albania.

In court, he claimed he was being used by other criminals to hold the phones for them and they would send the messages when they wanted, which was why phone data always showed the phones with him.

But jurors did not believe him and found him guilty of his crimes.

Det Insp Phillips said: "One of the recovered messages from a phone belonging to Nanaj alluded to the fact he wasn't sending more drugs from London to Gloucester for a while, as it was 'too hot' with police activity currently - little did he realise how right he was."

Many pairs of designer trainers worth hundreds of pounds were found at his home