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Five men have been arrested in a string of dawn raids after more than half a tonne of cannabis was seized at a major airport. Eleven air passengers were arrested and later bailed, having flown to Birmingham Airport from Thailand via Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport on August 9.
They included two people from Wythenshawe – a 35-year-old man and a 34-year-old woman – and a 33-year-old man from Bolton. The cannabis seized would have had a UK street value of around £5 million, according to the National Crime Agency (NCA).
On Wednesday morning (October 23), officers arrested five men – aged between 21 and 27 – on suspicion of organising the attempted importations of cannabis in August. The suspects were apprehended at separate addresses in Marsh Farm, Luton, and Finchley, north London.
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All five have since been bailed pending further enquiries. NCA Branch Commander Mick Pope said: “The arrests in Luton and London show that we will leave no stone unturned in our hunt for anyone involved in attempts to smuggle cannabis into the UK, regardless of the level they operate at.
“The gangs behind this trade do not care that couriers will likely be arrested and end up in prison – their sole motivation is financial gain. Anyone who tries to smuggle drugs into the UK needs to know that they will be identified, arrested and spend time behind bars.”
The NCA carried out a series of dawn raids
(Image: National Crime Agency)
The NCA has now arrested and bailed 16 people in total, aged from 20 to 35, following the Birmingham Airport seizure – including the trio from Greater Manchester. It comes amid a warning to travellers arriving into the UK from Thailand, Canada and the USA that they could face jail sentences if caught attempting to smuggle cannabis into the country.
An NCA spokesman said: “The amount of cannabis seized in the UK so far in 2024 is three times more than the whole of 2023. The increase in these seizures is fuelled by organised crime gangs who have access to cannabis grown overseas, in locations where it is legal, who are recruiting couriers to transport it to the UK where it can generate greater profit for them than growing the drugs themselves.”
The NCA works with law enforcement partners in the UK and overseas to target ‘high-risk’ routes, seize shipments of drugs and disrupt the criminal gangs involved. Information on drug smuggling can report it, anonymously if they prefer, to Border Force’s Customs Hotline on 0800 595 000.
“}]] Sixteen people have now been arrested in total, including three from Greater Manchester Read More