Gang who paid for extra baggage to smuggle drugs jailed
The gang were arrested at Birmingham Airport after flying from Thailand via Paris in 2024.
Gang who paid for extra baggage to smuggle drugs jailed
A drug-smuggling gang that tried to bring cannabis worth £13.8m into the UK through Birmingham Airport will face "life-altering convictions", the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.
Five members of the group, whose plan was disrupted by having to pay excess baggage charges, were sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday.
Altogether, 11 gang members were arrested by Border Force officers at Birmingham Airport in August 2024 after the Class B drug was found packed into 22 suitcases.
Paul Boniface, an NCA 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 continued: "These couriers are now facing time in prison and life-altering convictions that put future career and travel prospects in serious peril."
"We are grateful to our partners at Border Force who discovered these drugs.
"The NCA will continue to do all we can to stop drugs being smuggled into the UK and deprive criminal groups of profits."
The NCA said the gang had flown to the UK from Thailand via Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris and had been forced to pay excess baggage charges at Bangkok airport because of the weight of their suitcases.
Suspicion was triggered when Border Force connected the seizures to other travellers on connecting flights into Birmingham, leading them to fully staff the "nothing to declare" customs green channel.
That led to the cannabis being uncovered.
Each person was found with two suitcases containing vacuum-packed cannabis hidden under clothing. Each pair of cases contained 20kg (44lb) of the drug, with 460kg (1,014lb) seized overall.
Eight of the cases contained Apple Air Tag trackers, which NCA investigators found were all linked to the same Apple ID account.
The gang had travelled from Thailand to Birmingham, via Paris, the NCA said
Following their arrest, the 11 gang members were charged with attempting to carry, remove, deposit, harbour, keep, conceal and deal with Class B drugs with intent to evade prohibition on importing.
Gideon Oluwasetemi Olumoyegun, 26, from Dagenham, and Ryan Boachie, 32, from Edmonton, North London, were each sentenced to 24 months.
Claire McCullough, 36, from Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester, received 24 months plus two months consecutively.
Jaden Ramen, 23, from Colliers Wood, South London, was sentenced to 32 months. Paige Crisp, 25, from Malvern, Worcestershire, was sentenced to 30 months.
Tasia Nelson, 22, from Newquay, Cornwall, and Jamal Clarke, 22, from Walthamstow, London, will be sentenced on 30 October.
Crisp, Nelson and Ramen were convicted on 19 August after a four-week trial.
McCullogh, Boachie, Olumoyegun and Clarke all pleaded guilty at earlier hearings.