
An Albanian gangster and his British girlfriend described themselves as "Bonnie and Clyde" in love letters where they talked about their crimes.
The group of five Albanian men and a British woman were behind the theft of jewellery, luxury handbags, watches and cash worth around £1m from wealthy victims in at least 44 robberies across the UK.
Police said the group set "weekly targets" for the amount of gold they wanted to steal during robberies, and that they displayed the stolen loot in photographs.
Endrit Nikolli, 27; Kristian Gropcaj, 30; George Lleshaj, 31; Krisjian Dedndreaj, 28, and Sidorjan Lleshi, 26, pleaded guilty at Chester Crown Court to conspiracy to commit theft and conspiracy to possess property obtained from crime.
Nicholl was in a relationship with Jade Tubb, 33, a British national, who booked the rental car that the group used for the thefts and then spent the proceeds from the crimes.
Investigators seized letters exchanged between Nicholls and Tubb, in which they referred to themselves as Bonnie and Clyde - the American bandits who were ambushed and killed by police in Louisiana in 1934, after a two-year crime spree.
On Wednesday, Tubb pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess criminal property.
The group used ladders to enter through the windows and balconies of the first floor of the apartments and, once inside, completely destroyed them to find valuables.
Police managed to recover only 13 designer handbags and 14 watches during raids on the group's hideouts and said the "vast majority" of the stolen items had been sold.
The investigation began in October 2024, after police were informed of a series of burglaries in Macclesfield, Prestbury, Weston and Willaston.
Officers were able to link the thefts in Cheshire to similar cases in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Staffordshire through shoe prints left at the scene.
Traces of Nicole's DNA were also found at the scene of a burglary in Staffordshire.
The group met regularly in a café in the Jewellery Quarter area of Birmingham.
On July 2 last year, police carried out a series of raids at addresses in Walsall, Sutton Coldfield and Birmingham, arresting Nikollin, Lleshaj, Gropcaj and Tubb.
Dedndreaj was later arrested in Surrey by officers from Cheshire Police's Serious and Organised Crime Unit.
Analysis of the group's mobile phones revealed hundreds of photos of stolen items, as well as messages indicating the locations of the thefts.
Lleshi, who along with Nikolli also admitted an additional charge of theft for two incidents in Staffordshire in March 2024 and December 2023, posed in the photograph with more than a dozen watches placed on his hands.
One of the group members, wearing a mask and hooded jacket, posed with a stolen safe in his arms, while his accomplice held a large hammer.
Detective Inspector Laura Fox, from the Proactive Criminal Investigation Unit in Macclesfield, said: "All of the incidents were carefully organised, with the group researching targets before committing the crimes, even spreading their criminal activity to different areas to avoid detection."
"They specifically targeted wealthy victims, with the aim of stealing as much high-value assets as possible."
Dedndreaj, Nikolli and Lleshaj from Walsall, Gropcaj from Birmingham and Lleshi from Sheffield are in custody and will be sentenced at Chester Crown Court on February 20.
Tubb, from Walsall, has been released on bail and will also be sentenced along with the rest of the group./ Telegraph