Dagenham man 'beaten to death' by Albanian drug gang

Tomasz Waga's body was found dumped in Cardiff on the night of January 28, 2021.

He had been battered by weapons including a baseball bat, brick and bamboo stick.

Read more: Murder investigation after Dagenham man found dead in Cardiff

The court heard the 23-year-old Dagenham and three other men had travelled from London to burgle the cannabis factory.

But gang members heard about the break-in and descended on the Newport Road property to “protect their valuable hoard of cannabis”, a trial at Newport Crown Court heard on Wednesday.

The armed gang is alleged to have carried out a “brutal assault” on Mr Waga and his associate Carl Davies, leaving Mr Waga “close to death”.

Mr Waga is then believed to have been bundled into a silver Mercedes, in which the prosecution claim he was interrogated and robbed of his money and phone before being pushed out of the car and left for dead.

His body was found dumped on Westville Road in the Penylan area of the city.

Gledis Mehalla, Mihal Dhana, Mario Qato, Josif Nushi and Hysland Aliaj deny the murder of Mr Waga.

Nushi, Dhana and Aliaj also deny the wounding with intent and unlawful wounding of Carl Davies.

Dhana denies conspiracy to produce a controlled drug of class B and Qato denies participating in the activities of an organised crime group.

Prosecutor Greg Bull KC told jurors: “The Crown submits that in 2020 an organised criminal gang of Albanian nationals established a commercial cannabis growing factory in a residential area of Cardiff.

“Whatever your views are on whether or not cannabis should be legal, that should not form part of your consideration.

It was so successful and profitable that members of the gang were prepared to protect it, if necessary, at all costs Greg Bull KC “These are the money men that control the production and supply of cannabis – far removed from members of the public that might enjoy a spliff on a Sunday afternoon.”

“It was a well-run, organised and profitable enterprise,” he continued.

“It was so successful and profitable that members of the gang were prepared to protect it, if necessary, at all costs.

“Their determination to protect their valuable crop came to a head just after 10.30pm on January 28, 2021, when these five defendants, together with others, murdered Tomasz Waga, a young man who had the intent of stealing the cannabis grown from the factory.”

Mr Bull said all five defendants “played their part in his murder”.

He said the cannabis, valued at around £120,000, was being grown in a property leased by the gang who pretended they were to rent it out to doctors at the Royal Gwent Hospital.

The jury were shown pictures of the inside of the house which had its windows covered and contained expensive equipment needed for the cultivation of cannabis plants, as well as the bed linen of ‘gardener’ Aliaj who lived there.

Mr Bull said telephone records show that it was Aliaj who tipped off his fellow gang members that the burglary was taking place before escaping through a downstairs window.

The gang turned up as Mr Waga and Mr Davies – the other two having fled already – were filling a bed sheet with cut cannabis and they began attacking Mr Davies before turning their attention to Mr Waga, Mr Bull said.

Describing Mr Waga’s injuries he said: “He was to sustain 25 sites of injury to his head and mouth, bruising to his chest with damage to his seventh, eighth, and 10th ribs.

“He had seven sites of injuries to his arms, and a degree of swelling and bruising to the brain.”

He added: “Mr Waga did not die immediately from the beating he received.

“Another car was dispatched from Colum Road, a Mercedes owned and driven by the defendant Gledis Mehalla.

“He arrived with Mario Qato, Palluci and Elezi.

“Mr Waga was brought to the parked Mercedes car, bundled into the back seat and driven off.

“We don’t know what happened in the car. We do know shortly afterwards he was dead.”

Mr Bull said the jury would hear during the course of the trial from a pathologist who would say the “mechanism of death was obstruction to the airways, and that his bleeding caused him to suffocate”.

The Mercedes used to transport Mr Waga has never been recovered despite extensive searches and numerous police appeals.

The day after the alleged murder Mehalla, Aliaj and two others, Artan Palluci, 29, and Elidon Elezi, 22, who are also suspected of being involved in Mr Waga’s killing, fled the country.

Mehalla was eventually extradited from Albania, and Aliaj from Germany. However, Palluci and Elezi have still not been found.

A bloodied baseball bat found inside another one of the gang members’ cars had on it the DNA of defendant Nushi and victim Mr Davies, while Aliaj’s DNA was found inside the car.

The trial continues.