Albanians are suspected of running their criminal operations from prison as official figures showed they made more than twice as many phone calls from jails as any other nationality.

Ministry of Justice (MoJ) data have revealed that Albanian prisoners have made 157,962 phone calls from jail in the past six months, equivalent to nearly 900 a day.

Albanians are the largest foreign nationality by number in jails in England and Wales, accounting for more than 1,200 prisoners, followed by Poles and Romanians.

Albanians, Poles and Romanians are the three biggest nationalities for foreign prisoners in jails in England and Wales, representing a quarter of all foreign national offenders in prisons.

According to prison service records, the number of calls made by Albanian offenders was four times the number made by Poles and Romanians, respectively, the second-largest and third-largest nationalities in jail. Poles, who account for 740 prisoners, made 209 calls per day (total 37,691), while Romanians, with 708 prisoners, made 207 calls a day (total 37,307).

The second-highest overall number was 73,541 calls by 678 prisoners from Ireland, followed by 57,867 calls by 68 Americans.

‘Hugely disproportionate’

Prof Ian Acheson, a former prison governor and former adviser to the Government on extremism in jail, said the number of calls by Albanian prisoners appeared “hugely disproportionate”.

“What we do know is that Albanian organised crime dominates drug distribution inside prison. How much of a reach they have outside prison is less clear, but it would not be surprising if they are consistently on their phones organising deals. It’s not unreasonable to suggest there is a connection there,” he said.

It comes after David Lammy, the justice secretary at the time, warned that gangland bosses were increasingly running their criminal empires from prison.

He added that organised crime was “increasingly co-ordinated” by gang leaders inside jails that were too often blighted by violence, drugs and disorder.

Mr Lammy said criminals were also using “ever-more sophisticated drones” to deliver drugs and weapons directly into jails, evading traditional security measures.

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Albanian criminals are predominantly jailed for drug or theft offences. They have specialised in cannabis farming, which has enabled them to displace the Vietnamese as the main domestic providers of the drug in Britain, according to the National Crime Agency (NCA).

Albanian gangs who previously specialised in cocaine moved into cannabis because it was “very, very low risk”.

Cannabis turns a substantial profit because of high demand – Britons consume 240 tons of the drug, worth £2.4bn, a year – and does not require risky cross-border transportation because it is home-grown, according to the NCA.

The surge in Albanians crossing the Channel in 2022, when 12,685 reached the UK in small boats, has provided a ready supply of illegal workers, skilled in the hydroponic technology required to grow the plants in the darkened rooms of houses in which all the windows have been sealed.

‘Not all nationalities present equal crime risk’

The figures on phone calls were extracted by Nick Timothy, the shadow justice secretary, who has demanded the full publication of crime data for foreign nationals.

The Telegraph revealed on Sunday that the MoJ was taking legal action to block the publication of foreign nationals’ crime rates in England and Wales.

Mr Timothy said: “Our prisons are already full, and 10,000 inmates are foreign nationals who should not be here. We need to accept that not all nationalities present an equal crime risk, as proved by this data.

“Albanians alone are responsible for more international prison calls than the USA, Canada, Japan, Italy, Germany, and France put together. Afghans, Iraqis, and Pakistanis also make up a disproportionate number.

“Labour must publish crime statistics by nationality so there is full transparency over who is committing crime in our country.”

The top 10 nations for phone calls were Albania (157,962), Ireland (73,541), the US (57,867), Poland (37,691), Romania (37,307), France (33,844), India (32,581), Spain (30,668), Italy (28,110) and Germany (27,278).

Calls are allowed from prison phones but numbers must be pre-approved. Calls can be monitored where prison officials believe there may be a risk of criminal conduct.

A prison service spokesman said: “No conclusions can be drawn from this data, which does not provide the nationality of prisoners making outgoing calls. All phone calls made by prisoners must be logged and recorded, and are paid for by the prisoners themselves.”