A drugs runner who was stopped by police because of his poor driving led to the busting of a family-run drugs business in Peterborough.
Konstantinos Androulakis, 25, was stopped on the A47 near to Rhubarb Bridge in Peterborough in the early hours of 5 September 2020.
A search of the car uncovered seven bags of cannabis and 39 bags of cocaine.
Androulakis was arrested and in interview confessed to supplying drugs on behalf of ‘Tony’.
Detectives identified ‘Tony’ as 29-year-old Xhejni Mucaj, who was arrested at his home in Hartley Avenue, Fengate, along with his wife, 23-year-old Christiana Sopikou and sister, 25-year-old Sabina Mucaj, after a warrant was executed on 25 March last year (2021).
A warrant was carried out simultaneously at a flat owned by Xhejni’s father, Bahri, in Viersen Platz, where £50,000 in cash and up to £50,000 worth of cocaine was discovered.
A “deal line” mobile phone was found in Hartley Avenue, which linked three men as “runners”, who delivered the supply on behalf of the Mucaj family.
They were Mihal Vasili, 32, Anastasios Skoulas, 24, and Georgios Chachlakis, 24, who were arrested in May last year.
Further investigation linked all eight people to the drugs network being run by Xhejni and Christiana.
Detectives also discovered a bank account used by the family, which was found to have had almost £250,000 turnover between December 2018 and February 2021 - £200,000 of which was attributed to drugs payments.
Xhejni was charged with being concerned in the supply of cocaine and cannabis, as well as conspiracy to conceal criminal property – namely money laundering, all of which he admitted in court.
Christiana, Sabina and Bahri were all charged with conspiracy to supply cocaine, conspiracy to conceal criminal property – namely money laundering – and conspiracy to supply cannabis.
Christiana admitted the offences, while Sabina and Bahri were found guilty following at trial at Peterborough Crown Court in November last year.
Today (Monday, 11 April), all four appeared at Peterborough Crown Court where they were sentenced as follows:
Xhejni Mucaj, of Hartley Avenue, Fengate – seven years and six months
Christiana Sopikou, of Hartley Avenue, Fengate – six years and five months
Bahri Mucaj, of Oatfield Street, Glasgow – seven years
Sabina Mucaj, of Freston, Paston – nine years
A Proceeds of Crime Act hearing is scheduled to take place on 16 September.
Skoulas and Chachlakis, both of Bringhurst, Orton Goldhay, and Vasili, of Howland, also Orton Goldhay, all admitted possession with intent to supply cocaine in June last year. Skoulas also admitted possessing cannabis.
They were each sentenced to two years and eight months in prison at Peterborough Crown Court on 18 February.
Androulakis was jailed for two-and-a-half years in November 2020 after admitting possession with intent to supply cannabis and cocaine. He has since been deported to Greece.
DC Andy Macdonald, who investigated, said: “This was a long and complex investigation which began unravelling after Androulakis came to our attention 18 months ago.
“The Mucaj family ran a criminal business, turning over a lot of money in a short period of time. Through many, many hours of investigation, we have managed to take out a significant drugs line in Peterborough and put those behind it in prison for a considerable amount of time.”
