Four members of a drugs smuggling gang who were part of a plot to import cannabis worth £13.8 million into the UK via Birmingham Airport have been sentenced.

The National Crime Agency investigated the group, who were arrested by Border Force officers in August 2024 when the class B drugs were found packed into 22 suitcases.

They had arrived into the UK on the same flights from Thailand via Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Those sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court were: Carsten Kyei, 21, from Newham, East London; Bradley Lloyd, 27, from Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester; Lewis Ross, 35, from Bolton, Lancashire and Nathan Vitorino, 26, from Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

Gideon Oluwasetemi Olumoyegun, 26, from Dagenham; Ryan Boachie, 32, from Edmonton, North London; Jamal Clarke, 22, from Walthamstow, London; Claire McCullough, 36, from Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester; Jaden Ramen, 23, from Colliers Wood, South London; Paige Crisp, 24, from Broomhall, Worcester, and Tasia Nelson, 22, from Newquay, Cornwall, are due to be sentenced at the same court on 22 October.

The court heard that the couriers each had two suitcases which were both packed with 20 kilos of cannabis, which amounted to 460 kilos in total. The couriers had to pay an excess charge at Bangkok Airport to put them in the hold as they were so heavy.

Each suitcase had a thin layer of clothing above the vacuum-packed cannabis, and eight contained Apple Air Tag trackers. NCA investigators identified that these were connected to the same Apple ID account.

Suspicions were raised when Border Force linked the seizures to other travellers using connecting flights into Birmingham, prompting them to fully staff the ‘nothing to declare’ customs green channel. This resulted in the cannabis being found.

One courier was told: ‘my man gonna be on the other side – don’t leave the airport until you see him leave. Even if your bags are there just let them go round on the belt, go toilet etc. etc.”

Kyei and Vitorino were convicted on 26 May 2026 following a three-week trial, while Ross and Lloyd changed their pleas to guilty during that trial.

Crisp, Nelson and Ramen were convicted on 19 August following a four-week trial.

McCullogh, Boachie, Olumoyegun and Clarke all pleaded guilty at previous hearings.

At the same court today (21 September) Lloyd was sentenced to four years imprisonment, Vitorino and Ross to two years and eight months imprisonment and Kyei to two-and-a-half years imprisonment.

NCA senior investigating officer Paul Boniface said:

“These sentences show that drugs couriers can end up paying a high price for smuggling cannabis to the UK.

“It is simply not worth the effort, something that social media influencers promoting this lifestyle frequently overlook.

“With the help of Border Force, we were able to intercept these drugs, deprive the criminal network behind the importation of considerable profits and protect the public from the damaging effects of cannabis.”

Adam Chatfield, Head of Border Force Midlands Command, said:

“These convictions should be a stark warning to anyone considering bringing cannabis into the UK.

"The young people involved now have a serious crime on their records, damaging their job prospects and life chances.

"More than ever, we are working closely with law enforcement partners in the UK and overseas to combat drug smuggling, keep our communities safe and our borders secure."

Victoria Norman from the Crown Prosecution Service said:

“Working with investigators, prosecutors pieced together a picture of a highly co-ordinated effort to smuggle industrial quantities of drugs into the country.

“Ultimately, this strong evidence led to six of the group pleading guilty, with the remainder convicted following a trial.

“The CPS is committed to working with the NCA to tackle organised crime and ensure that those involved with drug smuggling are brought to justice.”

The number of people trying to bring cannabis into the UK has sharply increased over recent years. In 2024, 801 cannabis smugglers were caught arriving in the UK by plane – an increase of 464% on 2023. This figure rose to 976 in 2025, and it’s on track to rise again in 2026 with 600 air passenger couriers arrested from January to June.

The sentencings follow the launch of a new NCA social media campaign warning young people that smuggling cannabis from Thailand to the UK could land them in a foreign jail, after a new fines regime was announced by the Thai government.

Films in the new campaign are running across TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube and will direct viewers to Crimestoppers (www.druggage.co.uk) where they can learn about the dangers of carrying drugs for crime gangs, and how to report it anonymously if they have been approached.

21 Sept 2026