WIREDGOV

Two members of an organised crime group have been jailed after a National Crime Agency investigation.

Drugs traffickers Artan Markaj, 23, and Marsela Kreka, 30, both from Albania, were sentenced to six years nine months and eight years respectively.

Officers caught the duo after a drugs handover in Barnet, north London, last June.

Markaj left his home in Clarence Close, Barnet, to get into a Mini Cooper driven by Kreka.

Officers believed he was carrying drugs under his coat and stopped him and Kreka when he got out of the car a few streets away.

A 1kg block of high purity cocaine wrapped in a sock was hidden under the passenger seat.

When officers searched Markaj’s home they found a further 4.5 kg of high-purity cocaine, £11,700 in cash within a concealment under a bedroom window sill, and drugs supply paraphernalia.

The drugs would have been worth an estimated £660,000 when cut and sold on the streets.

Markaj admitted at the scene that the Greek ID in his possession was a forgery and that he was an Albanian national.

He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to drugs trafficking, possessing a false identification document and money laundering.

Kreka, of Palmers Green, was found in possession of a Romanian driving licence in the name of Maria Danciu which she claimed was her true identity.

Enquiries confirmed it was a forgery.

She denied drugs trafficking and possessing a false identification document but was convicted by a jury.

NCA senior investigating officer Kevin Gee said: “If Markaj and Kreka had been successful these drugs would have ended up on the streets of the capital and generated huge criminal profits.

“Our work has punched a hole in this organised crime group and their ability to cause further damage.”

The pair were sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court on Monday.