COURT SENTENCES FIVE OVER £13.8M CANNABIS SMUGGLING PLOT

Birmingham Crown Court sentenced five people over an attempt to bring cannabis valued at £13.8 million into the UK. Border Force officers arrested 11 people at Birmingham Airport in August 2024 after finding the Class B drug in 22 suitcases. The travellers had flown from Thailand via Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and paid excess baggage charges in Bangkok because their luggage was so heavy. Officers linked the first seizures to passengers arriving on connecting flights and staffed the airport’s “nothing to declare” customs channel. Each traveller carried two suitcases containing 20kg of cannabis apiece.

Gideon Oluwasetemi Olumoyegun, from Dagenham, and Ryan Boachie, from Edmonton in north London, each received a 24-month sentence. Claire McCullough, from Wythenshawe in Greater Manchester, received a 24-month sentence and a further two months to run consecutively. National Crime Agency investigators identified Apple AirTag trackers in eight suitcases and found that all eight connected to the same Apple ID account. All 11 people faced charges relating to an attempt to handle Class B drugs with intent to evade import restrictions.

Paul Boniface, a National Crime Agency senior investigating officer, said: “Their cases should serve as a warning to others that it's not worth the risk, and the price paid is simply too high.” He said the couriers faced prison and convictions that could affect their careers and travel. Boniface credited Border Force with discovering the cannabis. He said the agency would continue its efforts to stop drugs entering the UK and deprive criminal groups of profits.