Five Barnet and east London men convicted in £13.8m cannabis smuggling plot

Five men from east and north-east London have been convicted of attempting to smuggle £13.8m worth of cannabis into the UK. The drugs, totalling 460 kilos, were packed into 22 suitcases and intercepted by Border Force officers at Birmingham Airport in August 2024. The men had travelled from Thailand via Paris on the same flights.

Carsten Kyei, 21, from Newham; Ryan Boachie, 32, from Edmonton; Gideon Oluwasetemi Olumoyegun, 26, from Dagenham; Jaden Ramen, 23, from Colliers Wood; and Jamal Clarke, 22, from Walthamstow were among those convicted. Birmingham Crown Court heard that each courier carried two suitcases, each containing 20 kilos of cannabis.

How the plot was uncovered

Border Force officers became suspicious when they noticed four passengers had travelled from Birmingham to Paris earlier the same day, each carrying two large suitcases. Investigators later discovered that eight of the suitcases contained Apple AirTag trackers, all linked to the same Apple ID account. This detail was reported by MyLondon.

The suitcases were so heavy that couriers had to pay excess baggage fees at Bangkok Airport. A thin layer of clothing concealed vacuum-packed cannabis inside. Border Force fully staffed the Nothing To Declare channel at Birmingham Airport and intercepted the group as they attempted to leave.

A recorded instruction to one courier revealed the gang’s tactics. "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." This was reported by MyLondon.

Convictions and sentencing dates

Kyei and Nathan Vitorino, 26, from Welwyn Garden City, were convicted on 26 May following a three-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court. Lewis Ross, 35, from Bolton, and Bradley Lloyd, 27, from Wythenshawe, changed their pleas to guilty during the trial. Jaden Ramen, Paige Crisp, 24, from Worcester, and Tasia Nelson, 22, from Newquay, were convicted on 19 August after a four-week trial.

Ryan Boachie, Gideon Olumoyegun, Jamal Clarke and Claire McCullough, 36, from Wythenshawe, pleaded guilty at earlier hearings. Sentencing for the trio convicted on 19 August is scheduled for 22 October. The remaining convicted men will be sentenced on 3 September.

What happens next

The convicted men will face sentencing at Birmingham Crown Court. Those convicted on 19 August will be sentenced on 22 October. The others, including the five London men, will be sentenced on 3 September. The National Crime Agency has not yet commented on whether further charges will be brought against others involved in the operation.