Two Albanian brothers have been accused of operating a £335 million cocaine trafficking network from a car wash business in the southern English town of Bournemouth, prosecutors in Albania said.
Klevis Hoxhosmani, 37, and his brother, Artur, 42, allegedly led one of Europe’s largest drug-smuggling operations, using legitimate trucking companies to transport cocaine hidden in shipments of cocoa beans, bananas and timber through European ports to the United Kingdom.
The brothers were arrested in August in Albania, where prosecutors say they laundered drug proceeds through luxury properties, vehicles and businesses. The Special Structure against Corruption and Organised Crime (SPAK) has seized assets including a yacht, several luxury cars, three pistols, watches, 16 mobile phones and 19 bank cards.
Authorities believe the group was linked to a 250-kg cocaine shipment intercepted in France in 2020. Investigators said the suspects used encrypted messaging services such as Sky ECC to coordinate deliveries and launder profits through the informal hawala money transfer system.
Residents in Bournemouth described the brothers as “neighbours from hell.” According to Albanian media, one of the siblings is reportedly in a relationship with the daughter of a former government minister.
The Hoxhosmani brothers have been remanded in custody in Tirana pending trial. SPAK said the case was developed with support from the UK’s National Crime Agency as part of a Europe-wide effort to dismantle organised drug trafficking networks.