Four jailed over £13.8m cannabis plot smuggled into Birmingham Airport in 22 suitcases
The class B drugs were flown in from Thailand and found packed into cases in the airport's customs channel
Four members of a drug smuggling gang have been jailed for their part in a plot to bring cannabis worth £13.8 million into the UK through Birmingham Airport.
The group was arrested by Border Force officers in August 2024 when the class B drugs were found packed into 22 suitcases, following an investigation by the National Crime Agency.
The couriers had arrived into the UK on the same flights from Thailand, travelling via Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.
Those sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court were 21-year-old Carsten Kyei, from Newham in East London; 27-year-old Bradley Lloyd, from Wythenshawe in Greater Manchester; 35-year-old Lewis Ross, from Bolton in Lancashire; and 26-year-old Nathan Vitorino, from Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire.
The court heard that each courier had two suitcases, both packed with 20 kilos of cannabis, amounting to 460 kilos in total.
The cases were so heavy that the couriers had to pay an excess charge at Bangkok Airport to put them in the hold.
Each suitcase had a thin layer of clothing above the vacuum-packed cannabis, and eight contained Apple Air Tag trackers.
NCA investigators found 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 officers to fully staff the "nothing to declare" green customs channel, which led to 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 26th May 2026 following a three-week trial, while Ross and Lloyd changed their pleas to guilty during that trial.
At the same court today, Lloyd was sentenced to four years in prison, Vitorino and Ross to two years and eight months each, and Kyei to two and a half years.
A further 11 people are due to be sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on 22nd October.
They are Gideon Oluwasetemi Olumoyegun, 26, from Dagenham; Ryan Boachie, 32, from Edmonton in North London; Jamal Clarke, 22, from Walthamstow in London; Claire McCullough, 36, from Wythenshawe in Greater Manchester; Jaden Ramen, 23, from Colliers Wood in South London; Paige Crisp, 24, from Broomhall in Worcester; and Tasia Nelson, 22, from Newquay in Cornwall.
Crisp, Nelson and Ramen were convicted on 19th August following a four-week trial, while McCullough, Boachie, Olumoyegun and Clarke all pleaded guilty at previous hearings.
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 in recent years.
In 2024, 801 cannabis smugglers were caught arriving in the UK by plane, an increase of 464% on 2023.
That figure rose to 976 in 2025, and it is on track to rise again in 2026, with 600 air passenger couriers arrested between January and June.