Sheffield man jailed for Albanian burglary gang raids on wealthy homes using Rightmove and Google
Sheffield man caught with stolen items and equipment linked to 59 burglaries across the UK
A Sheffield man who was part of an Albanian burglary gang which used Rightmove and Google to target homes in dozens of raids has been jailed for nearly 11 years.
Sidorjan Lleshi, aged 26, was arrested at his home in Durlstone Drive, near Arbourthorne, in September last year where he was caught with stolen items and equipment linked to 59 burglaries across the UK.
A court heard the gang - comprising of Sidorjan Lleshi along with three other Albanian men and a British woman - identified wealthy areas on Google Maps and used floorplans of homes taken from Rightmove while planning the raids.
Several police forces linked the gang to nearly 60 burglaries - including nine in Derbyshire as well as others in Cheshire, Cleveland, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and West Mercia.
Among the Derbyshire homes hit were several on Sheffield’s outskirts including Ridgeway and Holmesfield.
The estimated total value of the items stolen is in excess of £1 million and while some items have been recovered, the vast majority are believed to have been sold on.
Kristian Gropcaj, 30, George Lleshaj, 31, Krisjian Dedndreaj, 28, Sidorjan Lleshi, 26, and Jade Tubb, 33, were jailed at Chester Crown Court for over 38 years on Monday, April 13 and Tuesday, April 14.
On each occasion the gang would typically gain entry by using ladders to access first floor windows and balconies.
Once inside they would ransack the properties, stealing jewellery, designer handbags, watches and cash. An investigation began in October 2024 after police officers in Chesterfield identified a pattern of high-value burglaries occurring across Derbyshire.
Investigators liaised with neighbouring police forces and other regions reporting similar incidents. Staffordshire Police recovered DNA evidence at the scene of a burglary, which was later identified as belonging to Nikolli.
Officers discovered that a red Ford Focus which was insured to Gropcaj had been present during many of the incidents. They also found that a hire car booked by Tubb had been used during many of the other burglaries.
Telephone checks revealed Gropcaj had been in regular contact with Nikolli, Dedndreaj, and Lleshaj. Further enquiries revealed that the four men had been meeting on a regular basis at a coffee shop in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham.
On July 2, 2025, police led a series of raids at addresses in Walsall, Sutton Coldfield and Birmingham, leading to the arrests of Nikolli, Lleshaj, Gropcaj and Tubb.
Dedndreaj was not present at the time of the warrants but he was later arrested in Surrey. During the raids officers recovered 13 designer handbags, along with 14 watches worth almost £17,000.
Several mobile phones were also recovered during the warrants, and during analysis officers recovered hundreds of images of the stolen items, along with messages which contained links to Google maps which corelated with the scene of the burglaries.
Following their sentencing hearing, Temporary Detective Inspector Ryan McVeigh said: “Burglary is an invasive crime that can have long-lasting effects on victims, and this is something we never lose sight of.