A 21-year-old British-Ghanaian has been convicted alongside 10 others for their involvement in a plot to smuggle cannabis worth an estimated £13.8 million into the United Kingdom through Birmingham Airport.
Carsten Kyei, from Newham in East London, was among a group of couriers intercepted by Border Force officers in August 2024 after arriving in the UK from Thailand via Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.
According to the National Crime Agency (NCA), the group was travelling with 22 suitcases containing a combined 460 kilogrammes of cannabis.
The case was heard at Birmingham Crown Court, where prosecutors said each courier travelled with two suitcases containing about 20 kilogrammes of vacuum-packed cannabis concealed beneath a thin layer of clothing.
The suitcases were reportedly so heavy that the couriers had to pay excess baggage fees at Bangkok Airport before the luggage could be placed in the aircraft’s hold.
Investigators also found Apple AirTag tracking devices in eight of the suitcases. The trackers were reportedly connected to the same Apple ID account, raising further suspicions about the coordinated nature of the operation.
Border Force officers became suspicious after identifying four passengers who had travelled from Birmingham to Charles de Gaulle on August 9, 2024, with two large suitcases each.
The Nothing to Declare channel at Birmingham Airport was subsequently fully staffed, leading to the interception of the couriers and seizure of the drugs.
Kyei and Nathan Vitorino were convicted on May 26, 2026, following a three-week trial. Lewis Ross and Bradley Lloyd changed their pleas to guilty during the same proceedings.
Paige Crisp, Tasia Nelson and Jaden Ramen were later convicted on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, following a four-week trial.
Three other members of the group, Claire McCullough, Ryan Boachie and Gideon Oluwasetemi Olumoyegun, as well as Jamal Clarke, had previously pleaded guilty.
The three people convicted on August 19 are scheduled to be sentenced on October 22, while Kyei and the other convicted members of the group are due to be sentenced on September 3.
The case highlights the scale of international organised drug trafficking operations and the role of couriers in moving large quantities of illegal drugs into the UK.
