Peterborough drug gang couple ordered to pay more than £100k

Members of a family-run drugs business have been told they will face more prison time if they do not pay more than £100,000 from ill-gotten profits.

The four people were jailed in April over what police described as a "drugs empire" running out of Peterborough.

A Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearing on Thursday was told husband-and-wife duo Xhejni Mucaj, 31, and Christiana Sopikou, 25, had £109,057.31 in assets.

They were ordered to pay within three months.

Mucaj and Sopikou, both of Hartley Avenue, Peterborough; Bahri Mucaj, 63, of Oatfield Street, Glasgow; and Sabina Mucaj, 27, of Freston, Peterborough, were convicted of various drugs offences and money laundering.

They were arrested after one of their runners was found with 39 bags of cocaine on the A47 in Peterborough in 2020.

Cambridgeshire Constabulary is trying to seize as much as £2.8m from Mucaj and Sopikou.

Investigators identified £109,057.31 in assets, which they said included Rolex watches, a £4,000 personal number plate, a Mercedes car, Chanel Earrings, a Louis Vuitton handbag and cash.

The sentences for the family in April ranged between six years and nine years.

The married couple were told at Peterborough Crown Court they could be jailed for a further 28 months combined if they defaulted on the payment.

Det Con Andy Macdonald said: "This was a long and complex investigation to uncover the Mucaj family's criminal business which turned over a lot of money in a short period of time."

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