An 11-strong criminal gang that attempted to smuggle almost £14 million worth of cannabis through Birmingham Airport was brought down by a basic technological error: all eight Apple AirTags hidden in their suitcases were linked to the same Apple ID account.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) investigated the group, who were arrested at BHX by Border Force officers in August 2024. The smugglers had flown from Thailand to the UK via Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, carrying 22 suitcases packed with the Class B drug.
Each of the smugglers carried two suitcases containing 20 kilos of cannabis each, totalling a massive 460 kilos. The couriers had to pay an excess baggage charge at Bangkok Airport because the cases were so heavy. Each suitcase had a thin layer of clothing above the vacuum-packed cannabis, and eight contained Apple AirTag trackers.
How the Apple AirTag error exposed the smuggling plot
NCA officers discovered that all of the AirTags were connected to the same Apple ID account, which linked the couriers to a single organised conspiracy. On arriving at Birmingham, 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.”
But Border Force had linked the travellers to others using connecting flights into Birmingham, which prompted them to fully staff the 'nothing to declare' customs green channel, resulting in the cannabis being found. The 11 smugglers were each charged with smuggling cannabis into the UK at Birmingham Airport on August 9, 2024.
Convictions and sentences handed down
Carsten Kyei, 22, of Denmark Street, Newham, East London, and Nathan Vitorino, 26, of Little Hardings, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, were convicted on 26 May 2026 following a three-week trial. Kyei was jailed for two-and-a-half years and Vitorino for two years and eight months, both on September 21.
Lewis Ross, 36, of Rupert Street, Bolton, and Bradley Lloyd, 28, of Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester, both changed their plea to guilty during their trial. Lloyd was jailed for four years and Ross for two years and eight months, also both sentenced on September 21.
Paige Cheri Crisp, 25, of Pear Tree Drive, Broomhall, Worcester, Tasia Nelson, 22, of Cheviot Road, Newquay, Cornwall, and Jaden Ramen, 23, of Myrna Close, Colliers Wood, South London, were all convicted on August 19 following a four-week trial. Crisp was jailed for 30 months and Ramen for 32 months at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday (October 22), while Nelson will be sentenced on October 30.
More guilty pleas and rising smuggling trend
Claire McCullough, 36, of Meliden Crescent, Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester, Ryan Michael Boachie, 32, of Hendon Road, Edmonton, North London, Gideon Oluwasetemi Jubilee Olumoyegun, 26, of Stour Road, Dagenham, and Jamal Clarke, 22, of The Mile End, Walthamstow, London, all pleaded guilty at previous hearings. Olumoyegun and Boachie were jailed for 24 months, and McCullough for 24 months plus two months consecutively for an additional offence of assaulting a shop worker. Clarke will be sentenced on October 30.
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.
