Eleven drugs couriers have been convicted for their involvement in a plot to smuggle cannabis worth £13.8m into the United Kingdom through Birmingham Airport.

🇳🇬 Here's What Happened

The National Crime Agency investigated the group after Border Force officers arrested them in August 2024 and seized the Class B drug packed into 22 suitcases.

According to NCA in statement shared on its website on Wednesday, the couriers had arrived in the UK on the same flights from Thailand via Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.

They were identified as Carsten Kyei, 21, from Newham, East London; Bradley Lloyd, 27, and Claire McCullough, 36, both from Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester; Lewis Ross, 35, from Bolton, Lancashire; Nathan Vitorino, 26, from Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire; Ryan Boachie, 32, from Edmonton, North London; Gideon Oluwasetemi Olumoyegun, 26, from Dagenham; Tasia Nelson, 22, from Newquay, Cornwall; Jaden Ramen, 23, from Colliers Wood, South London; Paige Crisp, 24, from Broomhall, Worcester; and Jamal Clarke, 22, from Walthamstow, London.

📌 Key Details

Birmingham Crown Court heard that each courier had two suitcases, with each suitcase containing about 20kg of cannabis, bringing the total weight to 460kg.

The suitcases were reportedly so heavy that the couriers had to pay excess baggage charges at Bangkok Airport to have them placed in the aircraft hold.

The cannabis was vacuum-packed and concealed beneath a thin layer of clothing. Eight of the suitcases also contained Apple AirTag trackers, which NCA investigators identified as being connected to the same Apple ID account.

The court heard that suspicions were raised after Border Force established that four passengers had travelled from Birmingham to Charles de Gaulle earlier on August 9, 2024, with each carrying two large suitcases.

Border Force officers subsequently fully staffed the Nothing to Declare channel and intercepted the group.

One of the couriers had also been instructed by an associate: “my man gonna be on the other side – don’t leave the airport until you see him leave.”

📰 Source: Punch Nigeria