Four Ghanaian men jailed for smuggling £4.5 Million worth of cannabis from Ghana to South Essex, UK.
A gang that smuggled nearly £4.5 million worth of cannabis concealed in sacks of Gari powder from Ghana to south Essex has been sentenced to a combined 26 years in prison. The illicit cargo was uncovered by Border Force officers in a shipping container at Tilbury Docks, following a coordinated National Crime Agency (NCA) operation.
Sentencing took place on October 18, 2024, at Southwark Crown Court. Daniel Yeboah received a five-year sentence, while Edward Adjei, 48, of London Road, Grays, was sentenced to four years. Two other men, Kristoffen Baidoo, 48, and Kwaku Bonsu, 52, were sentenced in absentia—Baidoo to ten years and Bonsu to seven—as both had evaded custody, with Baidoo failing to appear at the trial and Bonsu fleeing before sentencing. Efforts are ongoing to locate the pair and return them to custody.
“These men used their international contacts to import a huge amount of cannabis into the country,” said NCA senior investigating officer Saju Sasikumar. “Its onward supply in the UK would have had a catastrophic impact on our communities, fuelling violence and exploitation through county lines drug dealing. Today’s result demonstrates the NCA’s commitment to targeting organised criminals operating at the top of the drug supply chain and ensuring they are put before the courts.”
The container, originating from Ghana, arrived at south Essex’s Tilbury Docks on December 19, 2019, before continuing its journey to London. Intelligence gathered by the NCA, working with Ghana’s Narcotics Control Commission, indicated that the container might be concealing drugs. A search confirmed this, revealing 2,335 packages of herbal cannabis, totaling 1.5 tonnes, hidden inside white sacks of Gari powder. The drugs’ street value was estimated to be approximately £4.3 million.
Upon realizing the drugs had been seized, the suspects fled the scene in separate cars. The drugs were then replaced with dummy packages, and the container was delivered to a north London location on January 13, 2020. Yeboah, of Homerton High Street, signed for the delivery using a fake signature. When the men discovered the drugs were missing, officers were in pursuit, and all four were arrested later that day. Yeboah and Adjei were apprehended in Homerton, Baidoo in Stratford, and Bonsu in Edmonton.
Further evidence from text messages and emails on Baidoo’s phone revealed plans to receive the drugs at a yard he rented under a false name. Additionally, a bank account tied to Bonsu showed multiple payments to a shipping company to facilitate the container’s transport from Tilbury Docks to north London.
