Three Albanian men and a British woman are charged over spate of million-pound burglaries in Cheshire's Golden Triangle
Cheshire Police detectives swooped on three addresses in Walsall, Sutton Coldfield and Birmingham early on Wednesday and cuffed three men aged between 27 and 30 as well as a 33-year-old British woman.
Endrit Nikolli, 27, Kristian Gropcaj, 30, George Pepa, 30, and Jade Tubb, 33, have all been charged with conspiracy to commit burglary between November 2024 and March 2025 and conspiracy to possess criminal property.
These relate to 20 offences in Cleveland, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Cleveland, detectives said today.
Nikolli has also been charged with an additional count of burglary in connection with a theft in Staffordshire on March 1 2024.
Police have been probing dozens of alleged thefts across the country in which around £1m of high value goods were stolen - some allegedly in Cheshire's 'Golden Triangle', a trio of towns beloved by footballers and other celebrities.
Nikolli, Pepa and Tubb, of Crabtree Road in Walsall and Gropcaj of Gas Street in Birmingham are in custody ahead of an appearance at Chester Magistrates today.
A fourth Albanian man aged 28 was arrested in London on suspicion of conspiracy to commit burglary on Thursday. He remains in police custody.
Morning raids were staged at addresses across the country earlier this week as part of Operation Ambler, a multi-force police investigation specifically targeting Albanian organised crime gangs.
Dramatic footage showed uniformed officers shouting 'Police!' as they stormed into a house in the execution of Operation Ambler.
In the stunning raids, a man was seen being handcuffed as he lies prone and shirtless in bed. Other clips showed men being led into the back of cage vans.
Detectives from Macclesfield CID leading the operation allege that gangs have carried out a large number of 'sophisticated' burglaries that took place over several months at addresses all over the country.
The raids would target 'high-value residential premises', police claim.
Thieves are thought to have broken in via first-floor windows and doors as they carried out the raids, and went to 'great lengths' to do so across England.
Criminals are said to have made off with more than £1million of high-value items in total - £400,000 of it from homes in Cheshire alone - some of which were allegedly recovered during the morning raids.
In video released by Cheshire Police, officers wearing head torches could be seen raking through wardrobes as they sought to trace the stolen goods.
Valuable-looking watches were dropped into evidence bags, while a mobile phone was placed into a specialist forensic evidence box.
Detective Sergeant Laura Fox of Macclesfield CID said: '(Wednesday's) raids are the culmination of detailed investigations across multiple forces brought together into at least thirty-seven high value burglaries spread over a six-month period.
'Our investigation has shown us that these incidents have been carefully planned and coordinated, and they've gone to great lengths to continue their crime spree across the country.
'On each occasion the offenders have specifically targeted high value properties, breaking in via first floor windows and doors, and ransacking the premises to steal as much as possible.
'In total we believe that the value of the items stolen in the burglaries was more than £1 million, which includes more than £400,000 from the ten homes in Cheshire.
'I hope that (the) arrests provide some reassurance to the victims in the case and also act as a warning to other offenders.'
And in a warning to thieves, her colleague Detective Inspector Dave Jarvis added: 'No matter where you live, or how much you try to hide, our officers will come for you, and you will be arrested.'
Burglaries were once thought to be crimes of opportunity - but have allegedly become the preserve of organised crime gangs who go to great lengths to execute professional operations targeting lucrative homes.
Last month, Cheshire Police issued an appeal for a burglary in Prestbury that saw three thieves drill a hole into a wall of a disused building in order to climb into the store next door.
The thieves made off with £260,000 of high-value designer handbags from Dress Cheshire, whose owner Christine Colbert, 58, could only watch on helplessly as CCTV was livestreamed to her phone.
She told MailOnline last month: 'This has been very well thought through - it's very frightening for me.
'I can't believe the lengths they have gone to. It used to be watches people wanted – now it's handbags and they are worth more second-hand than they are new.'
Similarly, £1million of designer handbags were stolen in a raid in Alderley Edge in February.
At this time, the incidents have not been linked to Albanian crime gang activity - but spates of incidents across Cheshire have prompted the rich and famous to beef up their security, hiring private contractors.
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