Four Ghanaians In UK Sentenced After Smuggling About £4.5 Million Worth Of Narcotics In Gari
- Four Ghanaians have been sentenced for smuggling £4.5 million worth of narcotics from Ghana to the UK
- The narcotics were reportedly discovered in a shipping container at Tilbury Docks after a National Crime Agency sting
- Security personnel in the UK were said to have found 2,335 packages of narcotics weighing a combined 1.5 tonnes
Four Ghanaians found guilty of smuggling about £4.5 million worth of narcotics hidden in sacks of gari from Ghana to the UK have been sentenced to a combined total of 26 years.
The four men were sentenced at Southwark Crown Court.
Source: Getty Images
UK media reports said Daniel Yeboah was jailed for five years, Edward Adjei for four years, Kristoffen Baidoo for 10 years, and Kwaku Bonsu for 10 years.
Baidoo and Bonsu did not appear at the trial and are believed to have fled the UK.
Work is ongoing to locate the pair and return them to custody to serve their sentences.
On December 19, 2019, the container with the narcotics arrived at the South Essex docks from Ghana.
A search confirmed that 2,335 packages of the narcotics weighed a combined 1.5 tonnes inside white hessian sacks of gari.
The narcotics were seized from the sacks and replaced with dummy packages.
Source: UGC
How were the narcotics suspects caught?
On the morning of January 13, 2020, officers monitored the container Yeboah signed using a fake signature.
Bonsu photographed the container using his mobile phone while Adjei was spotted dropping Baidoo off at the yard.
When they realised the narcotics were missing, they ran off but were tailed by police officers and arrested.
British nationals nabbed at KIA
Ghana has made arrests of its own in the past, with two British nationals being picked up at the Kotoka International Airport for attempting to transport narcotics to the UK.
The arrest happened on Monday, June 10, 2024, as the duo were about to board a British Airways flight to Gatwick.
The Narcotics Control Commission collaborated with the UK National Crime Agency for the arrest.
Nigerian jailed for narcotics trafficking
YEN.com.gh also reported that a Nigerian was given a 10-year prison sentence after he was nabbed while trying to smuggle narcotics out of Ghana.
Pascal Okafor Ezugwu, aged 32, reportedly had 90 thumb-sized pellets of narcotics when he was arrested while trying to leave the country.
NACOC assured Ghanaian citizens that they would ensure public safety by working to prevent the sale and trafficking of narcotics.
Proofread by Edwina N.K Quarcoo, journalist and copy editor at YEN.com.gh.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
