A gang of four men who smuggled nearly £4.5 million worth of cannabis concealed in sacks of Gari powder from Ghana to South Essex has been sentenced to a total of 26 years in prison.
The drug shipment was uncovered by border force officers inside a shipping container at Tilbury Docks during a sting operation conducted by the National Crime Agency (NCA). All four men received their sentences at Southwark Crown Court on October 18, 2024.
Daniel Yeboah was sentenced to five years, while Edward Adjei, 48, from London Road in Grays, received a four-year sentence. Kristoffen Baidoo, also 48, failed to appear for the trial last month, and Kwaku Bonsu, 52, fled the jurisdiction before sentencing.
Both were sentenced in their absence, with Baidoo receiving ten years and Bonsu seven years. Efforts are ongoing to locate the two men and bring them back into custody to serve their sentences.
NCA senior investigating officer Saju Sasikumar stated, “These men used their international contacts to import a huge amount of cannabis into the country.
Its onward supply in the UK would have had a catastrophic impact on our communities, fueling violence and exploitation through county lines drug dealing.
Today’s result demonstrates the NCA’s commitment to targeting organized criminals operating at the top of the drug supply chain and ensuring they are put before the courts.”
The container arrived at the South Essex docks from Ghana on December 19, 2019, where it was held before being scheduled for transport to London.
Intelligence from the NCA and the Ghanaian Narcotics Control Commission suggested it contained illegal drugs.
Upon inspection, authorities discovered 2,335 packages of herbal cannabis weighing a total of 1.5 tonnes, hidden within white hessian sacks of Gari powder.
The street value of the drugs was estimated to be approximately £4.3 million. After realizing the drugs were missing, the suspects fled the site in different vehicles shortly after the container was opened.
The cannabis was seized from the sacks and replaced with dummy packages before the container continued its journey to north London on January 13, 2020, where Yeboah, residing on Homerton High Street, signed the delivery note using a forged signature.
As the suspects fled the area upon discovering the absence of the drugs, officers were already in pursuit, leading to their arrests later that day,Yeboah and Adjei were apprehended in Homerton, Baidoo in Stratford, and Bonsu in Edmonton.
Text messages and emails recovered from Baidoo’s phone revealed his plans to receive the drugs at a yard he rented under a false name to conceal his identity.
Additionally, it was discovered that Bonsu’s bank account made multiple payments to a shipping company for the container’s delivery from Tilbury Docks to the north London yard.
