Four Ghanaians jailed 26 years for smuggling £4.3 million worth of cannabis
The group of individuals who transported nearly £4.5 million worth of cannabis concealed in sacks of Gari powder from Ghana to south Essex have been sentenced to a total of 26 years in prison.
The illicit substance was found by border force officers in a shipping container at Tilbury Docks as a result of a National Crime Agency operation.
All four defendants received their sentences at Southwark Crown Court on October 18, 2024.
Daniel Yeboah was sentenced to five years in prison, while Edward Adjei, 48, from London Road, Grays, received a four-year sentence.
Kristoffen Baidoo, 48, did not appear for the trial, and Kwaku Bonsu, 52, fled before sentencing.
Both individuals were sentenced in absentia, with Baidoo receiving a 10-year sentence and Bonsu a seven-year sentence. Efforts are currently underway to locate and extradite them for imprisonment.
NCA Senior Investigating Officer Saju Sasikumar stated, “These individuals leveraged their international connections to smuggle a large quantity of cannabis into the country.
The distribution of these drugs within the UK would have had severe repercussions on our communities, contributing to violence and exploitation through county lines drug trafficking.
This outcome reflects the NCA’s dedication to dismantling organized criminal networks involved in the drug trade and ensuring their prosecution.”
The container arrived in South Essex from Ghana on December 19, 2019, and was detained prior to continuing its journey to London.
Information provided by the National Crime Agency and the Ghanaian Narcotics Control Commission indicated the presence of drugs in the container.
A search revealed 2,335 parcels of herbal cannabis, totaling 1.5 tonnes, concealed within white hessian bags of Gari powder.
Authorities estimated the street value of the drugs at approximately £4.3 million. Upon realizing that the drugs were missing, the individuals fled the location in separate vehicles, leaving behind the load once the container had been opened.
The contents of the sacks were seized and replaced with imitation packages before being transported to north London on January 13, 2020. Yeboah, residing on Homerton High Street, subsequently signed the delivery note with a counterfeit signature.
Following the discovery that the drugs were absent from the opened container, all individuals were apprehended later that day as they departed the scene. Yeboah and Adjei, from London Road in Grays, were arrested in Homerton, while Baidoo was apprehended in Stratford and Bonsu, residing on Arthur Road in Edmonton, was arrested in Edmonton.
Evidence from text messages and emails on Baidoo’s mobile phone exposed his plan to receive the drugs at the rented yard under a false name to conceal his identity.
Additionally, financial records indicated that Bonsu’s bank account had made numerous payments to a shipping company for the delivery of the container from Tilbury Docks to the north London yard. The NCA officers uncovered the shipping container and Gari sacks containing cannabis during the investigation.
