Five 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 in the UK on the same flights from Thailand via Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Those sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court were: Gideon Oluwasetemi Olumoyegun, 26, from Dagenham; Ryan Boachie, 32, from Edmonton, North London; Claire McCullough, 36, from Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester; Jaden Ramen, 23, from Colliers Wood, South London; Paige Crisp, 25, from Broomhall, Worcester.

Tasia Nelson, 22, from Newquay, Cornwall, and Jamal Clarke, 22, from Walthamstow, London, will be sentenced on 30 October.

The court heard that the couriers each had two suitcases which were 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 all 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 (22 October) Olumoyegun was sentenced to 24 months, Boachie to 24 months, McCullough to 24 months and two months consecutively for assaulting a shop worker, Ramen to 32 moinths and Crisp to 30 months.

Four other couriers who were part of the same conspiracy were sentenced to a total of more than 11 years’ imprisonment at the same court on 21 September.

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.

NCA senior investigating officer Paul Boniface said: “These couriers are now facing time in prison and life-altering convictions that put future career and travel prospects in serious peril.

“Their cases should serve as a warning to others that it’s not worth the risk, and the price paid is simply too high.

“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 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.

22 October 2026