Crisis for workers in the "bari house", Albanian gangs with 'special' offers on Tik--Tok: £9 thousand in three months

Albanian drug gangs are openly recruiting cannabis farmers on TikTok following a labor shortage in Britain.

Gang bosses are using social media to advertise their demand for cannabis workers and are offering special deals where instead of expenses being paid, farm workers will receive up to 30 percent of profits from street sales of the drug, media reports say. British newspaper, The Telegraph. 

The financial incentives have become necessary due to the dramatic fall in the number of Albanians entering the UK illegally on dinghies and the increase in the number of Albanians being jailed for cultivating cannabis or deported after arriving in Britain.

Commenting on the Telegraph's revelations this weekend, Angela Eagle, Minister for Border Security, said: “It is shocking that criminal gangs are using social media to recruit people and lure them into working in the cultivation of drugs such as cannabis with false promises.

"Whether online or on our streets, there should be no hiding place for those who break the law. We are increasing enforcement activity to make more arrests, increasing prosecutions not only in the UK but with partners across Europe, and ensuring that all our relevant partners are working hand in hand under our command new border security.”

Albanian gangs have managed to dominate the local cannabis market, where plants are grown in homes or cheap industrial facilities using hydroponic technology imported from farms in their homeland.

In the past decade, they have usurped the Vietnamese as the main suppliers of cannabis to UK users.

Their hold on the market was strengthened with a steady flow of workers from a group of around 12,000 illegal Albanian immigrants who arrived in 2022.

Fast-track deportation offers
Since then, however, the numbers have dwindled as the government tightened enforcement and signed fast-track deportation deals with Albania. Last year, the numbers fell to just 900 and, for the first six months of this year, only 150 Albanians have crossed the Channel in small boats.

At the same time, the number of Albanians imprisoned for tending illegal farms has increased. In July, 29 received sentences ranging from eight months to two years and four months for producing cannabis to supply the UK market. Another 24 were sentenced in August, with the majority awaiting sentencing this month.

"Albanian organized crime is offering a percentage of the drug production to their compatriots to work as cannabis farmers," said an Albanian law enforcement expert. "These unusual steps are related to the lack of people willing to lock themselves up at home to cultivate cannabis.

"Such ads are placed on TikTok offering up to a 30 percent share of the sale depending on the amount of cannabis produced."

"Workers wanted for houses - bar"
An advertisement in Albanian, seen by The Telegraph, said: " I am the owner of a house with cannabis. I talked to my worker and then everything went wrong. Now I am giving this employee 30 percent of the profit made in that house without living expenses."

Another said: " They wanted workers for the grass houses. If you care for 80 plants, you get 25 percent of the product and we pay the expenses. Comment or DM”.

A third offered a salary of £9,000 for three months of work inside a cannabis house, including growing plants, harvesting and packaging.

A fourth with a photo of a masked man with a heavy gold chain slung across his chest simply said: "Respect to all the guys who work for the 30 percent."

Typical of the prisoners is Edison Cenaj, 21, who was arrested at a house in Brynmawr in south Wales, where police discovered he was looking after more than 120 plants worth up to £85,000. He was jailed for 32 weeks.

TikTok said it was committed to ensuring the app was not used to take advantage of vulnerable people and did not allow any content that facilitates or coordinates people smuggling or related criminality.

It said the posts had been removed or would be removed and were being investigated for violating community guidelines.