Couriers jailed for attempting to smuggle £13.8 million of cannabis via Birmingham Airport
Four gang members have been sentenced with others due to appear in court next month
Four members of a drug smuggling gang have been sentenced for their roles in attempting to import cannabis worth £13.8 million into the UK via Birmingham Airport.
The group was investigated by the National Crime Agency and arrested by Border Force officers in August 2024.
The drugs were discovered packed into 22 suitcases that arrived on flights from Thailand via Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.
Those sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court include 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.
A further group including Gideon Oluwasetemi Olumoyegun from Dagenham and Ryan Boachie from Edmonton, North London, among others, are due to be sentenced at the same court on 22nd October.
In total, each courier possessed two suitcases containing 460 kilos of cannabis. The suitcases were stuffed with 20 kilos each, and 8 contained Apple Air Tag trackers linked to the same Apple ID.
The gang's activities raised suspicions at Border Force when seizures linked the same travelers through connecting flights. Consequently, full staffing of the customs green channel led to the discovery.
Kyei and Vitorino were convicted in May following a three-week trial, while Ross and Lloyd changed their pleas to guilty during proceedings.
Three other defendants including Paige Crisp, Tasia Nelson, and Jaden Ramen have already been convicted.
On 21st September, Lloyd was sentenced to four years imprisonment, while Vitorino and Ross received two years and eight months, and Kyei received two-and-a-half years behind bars.
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.”
Cannabis smuggling into the UK has sharply increased in recent years, with 801 smugglers caught in 2024, marking a 464% increase from 2023.
This number rose to 976 in 2025 and appears to be rising again with 600 couriers arrested in the first half of 2026.
These sentencings coincide with the launch of a new NCA social media campaign aimed at warning young people about the consequences of smuggling cannabis from Thailand to the UK.
The campaign includes films across various social media platforms and directs viewers to Crimestoppers for more information.