Dorset Police news site

Three men from Bournemouth and two men from Southampton who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs were sentenced at Winchester Crown Court on Monday 20 April 2026.

An investigation led by the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU) showed that Xhetan Gjoci, 31, of Waterloo Road, Bournemouth and Arlend Titini, 32, of Turnstone Gardens, Southampton, played a leading role in an organised crime group (OCG) who supplied 27.5 kilos of cocaine to areas across the UK including London, West Sussex, Cumbria, Avon and Somerset, Dorset, Devon, Cornwall and Hampshire.

Three other men who sat beneath Gjoci and Titini in the chain of command were Vladimir Rina, 37, of Richmond Road, Bournemouth; Dejvin Rina, 21, of Soberton Road, Bournemouth; and Korab Skepi, 23, of Bellevue Road, Southampton.

Today, they all received a custodial sentence:

• Gjoci was sentenced to 14 years
• Titini was sentenced to 14 years
• V Rina was sentenced to 11 years 8 months
• D Rina was sentenced to 8 years 8 months
• Skepi was sentenced to 11 years 8 months

How the investigation unfolded:

The OCG would prepare imports of cocaine in a makeshift lab in a rented property in Bournemouth and use stash houses in residential areas of Southampton and Bournemouth to store commercial volumes of the drugs.

Between April 2024 and March 2025 members of the OCG couriered and exchanged large volumes of drugs and cash from these locations.

Titini and Gjoci directed the sale of cocaine on a commercial scale and facilitated the exchange between those beneath him and buyers from across the UK. Gjoci was arrested in March 2025 by which point Titini had travelled abroad. He was extradited from Verona in December 2025 and charged with the conspiracy to which he pleaded guilty.

V Rina and D Rina played significant roles distributing drugs acting under the direction of Titini and Gjoci.

Skepi’s role was to prepare the drugs for onward distribution. He was trusted to store large quantities of cocaine and cash at his home address and pay himself from the money he collected.

The unravelling of the syndicate:

A warrant was executed at Skepi’s address in Bellevue Road in January 2025 and he was arrested. SWROCU officers seized 3.1 kilos of cocaine and £24,540 in cash as well as a ledger Skepi had kept since December 2024 when, in his words, he ‘started work’. Daily entries detail when, where and the amount of drugs and/or cash he delivered, and often who to. He also documented the vast amounts of cash he was handling by taking photos on his mobile phone.

The arrest of Skepi prompted Gjoci, V Rina and D Rina to step into action. The same morning, Gjoci and V Rina visited a B&Q store in Bournemouth and bought extra-large storage boxes. D Rina visited the same store separately and purchased flat-packed cardboard boxes and dustsheets. The men hired a self-drive van and cleared out the contents of a house on St James Road in Southampton which they’d been using as a drug preparation lab.

SWROCU officers established that D Rina and Gjoci were using a short-term rental property in Pauntley Road, Bournemouth, to prepare and supply cocaine. In March 2025, D Rina was arrested leaving the property and when officers entered the address to carry out a search, Gjoci fled into the back garden where he was arrested. His hands were covered in white powder.

A search of the address uncovered more than 16 kilos of cocaine, substances used to mix with drugs (caffeine powder and procaine), acetone (used as a bonding agent), large electric fans and a hydraulic press. Following the discovery, SWROCU executed warrants at other addresses associated with the OCG.

• D Rina’s home address on Soberton Road in Bournemouth where 258 grams of cocaine, electronic scales, £49,699 in cash, three phones, notebooks containing names and numbers of contacts were seized.
• Gjoci’s home address on Waterloo Road, Bournemouth where 2.76 grams of cocaine, cutting agents, names and numbers of contacts were found.
• V Rina's address on Richmond Wood Road in Bournemouth where a Citroen with a sophisticated hide was seized.
• A rented house on Hankinson Road, Bournemouth where 2.8 kilos of cocaine, cutting agents, and drug paraphernalia were seized.

DC Danielle Hill of SWROCU said: “This was a protracted and complex investigation which was supported by colleagues in Dorset Police, Hampshire Police, the Metropolitan Police and Cumbria Police.

“We have worked tirelessly to build a robust case against this OCG who were handling substantial volumes of cash and preparing vast amounts of cocaine worth hundreds of thousands of pounds and delivering it to a network of buyers using sophisticated ‘hides’ within their vehicles.

“We welcome the sentences passed by the judge and remain committed to targeting criminals involved in serious and organised crime in the South West and beyond.”

James Foster, Specialist Prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “This organised crime group was part of a sophisticated plot to flood our streets with cocaine. The defendants went to significant lengths to organise and conceal their criminal activity, including using rented accommodation to prepare drugs for supply and sourcing specialist equipment online.

“Working closely with the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit, the CPS was able to present compelling evidence of a large‑scale operation, resulting in guilty pleas from all.

“More than 27 kilos of cocaine along with over £167,000 in cash were seized preventing a substantial quantity of harmful drugs from reaching our communities.

“Their attempts to disguise their activities did not prevent them from being caught, and the substantial prison sentences passed today reflect the seriousness of this offending and the scale of the criminal enterprise involved.”

Detective Superintendent Emma Sweetzer, Dorset Police’s Director of Intelligence, said: “We know the impact that drug-related activity has on communities and we remain absolutely committed to doing all we can to prevent it from occurring.

“Working closely with partners and policing colleagues, we were able to disrupt the activity of an OCG supplying cocaine in Dorset and across the country and ensure five men faced justice for their involvement.

“I want to thank everyone involved for their work in taking these illegal and dangerous substances off the streets and protecting Dorset’s communities from the harm they can cause.”