TikTok videos, some with more than 10,000 views, feature badly injured victims
One shows an Albanian forcing victim to admit he broke into a cannabis factory
Traffickers offering illegal migrants chance to work in factories to pay off debts
Criminologists say gangs are running the social media blitz to advertise strength
By TOM KELLY INVESTIGATIONS EDITOR FOR THE DAILY MAIL
PUBLISHED: 17:38 BST, 21 October 2022 | UPDATED: 19:47 BST, 21 October 2022
Ruthless Albanian gangsters are using ultra-violent social media videos to help fight a 'secret suburban war' for control of the lucrative UK cannabis businesses.
Horrific TikTok footage unearthed by the Mail show gang bosses using kidnappings, false imprisonment and brutal beatings to stamp their authority on the network of drug factories hidden in residential homes across the country.
The videos, some with over 10,000 views, feature badly bruised victims whimpering in pain or pleading for help to act as a stark warning about what happens to those who try to cross them.
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Criminologists said the gangs were running the carefully orchestrated bloody social media blitz to advertise their strength over rival criminal networks and try to lure new recruits.
An undercover investigation by the Mail also revealed how people traffickers offered illegal migrants the chance to work in cannabis houses in the UK to pay off their debt on arrival.
It comes after the Border Force union warned the Home Secretary that the surge in criminal migrants poses a 'significant risk' to national security, with traditional asylum seekers replaced by 'young fit males' with suspected links to organised crime.
Another video shows a masked gang armed with machetes, knives and hammers smashing through the front door of a cannabis house which it says is in London (pictured)
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Another video shows a masked gang armed with machetes, knives and hammers smashing through the front door of a cannabis house which it says is in London (pictured)
Trafficker tells migrants to fund their £10,000 passage to the UK by working in his cannabis factory or as prostitutes in his brothel
An Albanian people smuggler encourages illegal migrants to fund their passage by working in his UK cannabis factory or delivering drugs after arrival.
Women can also work as prostitutes in his brothel, he said.
The trafficker, who advertises on a TikTok page with over 2,000 followers, proposed the indentured servitude to an undercover reporter posing as a customer who wanted to get to the UK.
He said the cost of smuggling her into the country on a lorry was £10,000, but there were other ways to pay if she did not have all the cash up front.
Giving his name as Maringlen – which is believed to be an alias – he told a female reporter who contacted him: 'I take people from Albania to England.
'If you do not have the money you will work one month for me until you pay it off.
'If you like the job you can stay on, if not you can change.'
He said he had 'several jobs' available including cannabis houses.
'I have girls, I have car washes and lap dancing clubs,' he said.
He asked for the woman to send a picture of herself in a bikini and told her: 'With that body you’ll get customers.'
After checking if she had a driving licence, he also said she could work transporting drugs.
The trafficker, who said he moved to the UK aged 16, said he had previously smuggled numerous people into Britain, including on occasion putting 'three girls on the back seat of a lorry'.
His TikTok page is filled with adverts for Albanians wanting to come the UK by lorry, offering 'super prices'. It also includes pictures of masked men in cannabis houses.
TikTok banned the trafficking sites after being alerted by the Daily Mail.
Another recent investigation found Albanian men who began working in a cannabis house in London days after illegally entering the UK on a small boat to clear debts of £5,000 to people smugglers.
They told Albanian TV reporter Ervin Koci their job was 'dangerous', with the threat of police raids or attacks by rival crime gangs, and the risk of having acid hurled in their eyes or killed but they had no chance to leave until they had repaid what they owed.
A spokesman for TikTok said: ‘This content has no place on TikTok. We do not allow content that depicts or promotes people smuggling.
‘We work closely with UK law enforcement and industry partners to find and remove content of this nature, and participate in the joint action plan with the National Crime Agency to help combat organised immigration crime online.’
Albania had the highest number of foreign nationals in English and Welsh jails last year, with 1,528 inmates, close to double the next highest country.
One TikTok video captioned 'evil comes from us' with over 11,000 views shows an Albanian interrogating a captive with black swollen eyes to force him to confess he broke into their cannabis factory and name the man who sent him.
A second man in the same video is filmed being threatened with further beatings by a man off camera if he refuses to speak and made to open his mouth to show how his teeth have already been broken. He describes how they were targeting a cannabis house on a residential street in Slough, Berkshire.
Another recently deleted video showed a bloodied man whimpering as he is brutally beaten, with one of the attackers heard shouting in Albanian: 'Torture him until he names the rest of his gang.'
There is also a shout of: 'Kill him. Do not let him go'.
The footage, which had nearly 10,000 views before being removed, was captioned: 'The thief of the cannabis house in England was caught by the Albanians.'
A third video shows five Albanians armed with knives, machetes and axes dance and rap in footage captioned: 'Ready to break into cannabis houses.'
One of them waves an axe at the camera and raps in heavily accented English: 'Remember this, every time I see the kid, gunna regret what he did.'
Another video shows a masked gang armed with machetes, knives and hammers smashing through the front door of a cannabis house which it says is in London.
A separate video shows two men breaking into a cannabis house. One in a black balaclava carrying a machete hammers on a locked door while the Albanian inside frantically calls for help.
Ervin Karamuço, a professor of criminology at Tirana University, said Albanian organised crime gangs' drug operations were now rivalling the original Italian mafia gangs.
He said: 'These posts are not just to intimidate but also to advertise themselves as the strongest crime groups to encourage new recruits.
'It's a kind of competition. They are fighting for control of areas and saying "we are much stronger than the rival gang, so join us".
'These groups already control large areas of suburban London and other parts of the country.
'They are very violent. They have nothing to lose. They just want to take control and get rich.'
The gangs also try to tempt new members by using social media to flaunt their luxury lives and show off their expensive cars and accessories, he said.
'At the beginning these groups were just using guns, now they are using technology.
'They are becoming cleverer and more sophisticated with very smart guys who know the best way to exploit social media. It's very organised.
'They also use social media to traffic new gang members into the UK.'
The shocking videos emerged amid a spate of grim cases highlighting the scale and brutality of the suburban war fought between rival Albanian and sometimes British gangs in towns and cities ranging from Tunbridge Wells to Taunton
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