Albanian heroin dealer who posed with £250K won’t be deported despite drug conviction and fake ID finds

Olsi Beheluli, 33, was sentenced to 11 years in jail after he was caught with eight kilograms of high-purity heroin in 2015.

The former "model", who came to the UK when he was nine, was found to have played a 'senior role' in a drug-dealing ring.

Despite efforts to prove he fraudulently secured British Citizenship, the Home Office and National Crime Agency (NCA) have been told Beheluli must remain in the UK.

They claimed Beheluli had told officials he was not involved in any criminal activity on his naturalisation application, in which he promised there was nothing "which reflected adversely on his character".

But just eight months later, he was arrested in possession of £200,000 worth of heroin - an amount authorities believe would only be entrusted to a senior gang member.

Both agencies argued that dealing such a large quantity contradicted Beheluli's original claim.

However, a lower-tier tribunal judge dismissed this, stating there was no witness testimony or surveillance evidence to support these accusations.

The Home Office said it was "incredible" to presume this was Beheluli's first offence.

"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," they added.

Officials appealed the case and told an upper tribunal judge at the rehearing that 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."

But the judge ruled the lack of hard evidence did not "amount to a complete and incontrovertible answer to the common-sense point made by the Secretary of State".

Another hearing has now been ordered, and Beheluli is allowed to remain the Uk in the meantime.

Beheluli's family were granted discretionary leave after arriving in the UK in 2000, allowing them to remain in the country for six years.

Officers arrested Beheluli, who claimed he appeared on Channel 4 dating show My Little Princess, as he made his way to a 'stash house' in north London nine years ago.

When police searched his home, they found counterfeit identity documents and drug-dealing paraphernalia, including digital scales.

Investigators also uncovered a shocking image of Beheluli posing next to £250,000 in cash - which he had posted on X.

When questioned about the photo, Beheluli claimed the money was given to him by a relative and that the picture 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.

Police said the then-24-year-old enjoyed living the "high life" and regularly gambled his drug profits.

They found £24,000 in his bank account, which Beheluli claimed was "gambling winnings from the World Cup".

Officers also discovered betting slips showing he had recently placed £12,000 stakes at Ladbrokes and William Hill.

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.

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.