The jailed Albanian heroin dealer who posed with £250,000 in cash has been told he will not be deported.
Olsi Beheluli, who arrived in the UK at the age of nine, received an 11-year prison sentence for his significant role in a drug trafficking operation when he was found with eight kilograms of high-purity heroin in 2015.
Despite efforts by the Home Office and National Crime Agency (NCA) to demonstrate that he unlawfully obtained British citizenship, Beheluli has been instructed to remain in the UK, as per reports in The Telegraph.
According to sources, Beheluli had stated on his citizenship application, eight months before his arrest for possession of £200,000 worth of heroin, that he was not engaged in any criminal pursuits.
However, they believe that only a senior member would be entrusted with such a valuable assignment.
Dealing with the huge amounts of drugs would go against his promise to officials at the time that there was nothing ‘which reflected adversely on his character’.
A lower-tier tribunal judge dismissed this, arguing that there was no witness evidence or surveillance to support this.
The Home Office said it was ‘incredible’ to presume this was his first time engaging in drug offences and that ‘it is beyond logic to accept that [he] would be trusted with such a consignment of drugs if [he was] not already involved in the supply of Class A Drugs’.
Olsi Beheluli, 33, was sentenced to 11 years behind bars over his ‘senior role’ in a drug-dealing ring after he was caught with eight kilograms of high-purity heroin in 2015
A judge ruled that he would not be deported despite attempts from the Home Office because there was not enough evidence to suggest he had been involved in criminal activities before (pictured with a stash of £250,000 in cash)
Dealing with £200,000 worth of heroin would go against his promise to immigration officials at the time that there was nothing ‘which reflected adversely on his character’, the Home Office argued
When this went to an upper tribunal judge at a rehearing after the case was appealed, officials said Beheluli ‘must have established a fairly senior role in the supply of heroin, since he was entrusted with more than eight kilograms of high-purity heroin with a street value of more than £200,000’.
The judge responded that the lack of evidence did not ‘amount to a complete and incontrovertible answer to the common-sense point made by the Secretary of State’.
Another hearing has been ordered while Beheluli is allowed to stay in the UK.
Beheluli arrived in the UK in 2000 with his family who were granted discretionary leave to remain six years later.
The gangster, who claimed he appeared on Channel 4 dating show My Little Princess, was on his way to a ‘stash house’ in north London when the cops descended on him.
Counterfeit identity documentation and scales were found at the Neasden address and when police searched Beheluli’s phone, they discovered the shocking image of him next to £250,000 in cash – which he had also posted on X.
Beheluli tried to claim it was a relative’s money and the photo was taken in Albania but detectives matched the distinctive wallpaper and furniture in the image to a picture of a home that he used to rent.
Beheluli stashed £24,000 in his bank account and told officers it was gambling winnings from the World Cup.
Officers found betting slips showing he had recently placed £12,000 stakes at Ladbrokes and William Hill.
The then-24-year-old enjoyed living the ‘high life’ and gambling with the money he made from the illegal operation, police said
Beheluli was found guilty of conspiring to supply class A drugs in 2015 alongside fellow gang members Besim Topalli (left), then 29, and Azem Proshka (right), then 23
The then-24-year-old enjoyed living the ‘high life’ and gambling with the money he made from the illegal operation, police said.
National Crime Agency branch commander Oliver Higgins said: ‘Beheluli seemed to enjoy the high life and gambling with the money he made from drug dealing, but in the end his luck run out.
‘These men were involved in supplying significant quantities of high-purity class A drugs, as demonstrated by the value of the cash, cocaine and heroin we have seized from them.
‘But they were unaware that they were being watched by the NCA, and their arrest and subsequent conviction should have the wider criminal fraternity looking over their shoulders.’
Blackfriars Crown Court found him guilty of conspiring to supply class A drugs in April 2015 alongside fellow gang members Besim Topalli, then 29, and Azem Proshka, then 23 – the trio in total received a sentence of 31 years in prison.
At the time, it was reported Proshka and Topalli would be deported after they serve 10 years in prison after admitting conspiring to supply drugs, money laundering and possessing fake ID documents.
