A gang involved in smuggling nearly £4.5 million worth of cannabis hidden in sacks of Gari powder from Ghana to South Essex has been sentenced to a total of 26 years in prison. The operation was uncovered by border force officers at Tilbury Docks following a National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation.
All four men were sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on October 18, 2024. Daniel Yeboah received a five-year sentence, while Edward Adjei, 48, from Grays, was sentenced to four years. Kristoffen Baidoo, 48, and Kwaku Bonsu, 52, did not appear for their trials; Baidoo was sentenced to ten years and Bonsu to seven in absentia. Efforts are ongoing to locate both men and return them to custody.
NCA senior investigating officer Saju Sasikumar emphasized the significant impact the drug importation could have had on UK communities, noting that it would have fueled violence and exploitation through county lines drug dealing. He highlighted the NCA’s commitment to targeting organized crime at the highest levels.
The shipping container containing the drugs arrived at Tilbury Docks from Ghana on December 19, 2019. Intelligence from the NCA and the Ghanaian Narcotics Control Commission had raised suspicions about the cargo. A subsequent search revealed 2,335 packages of herbal cannabis, weighing a total of 1.5 tonnes, concealed within white hessian sacks of Gari powder, with a street value estimated at around £4.3 million.
After realizing the drugs were missing, the gang members fled the scene in separate vehicles, abandoning the load. The drugs were seized and replaced with dummy packages before the container was sent to north London on January 13, 2020. Yeboah signed the delivery with a fake signature.
As they attempted to leave, law enforcement officers arrested Yeboah and Adjei in Homerton, Baidoo in Stratford, and Bonsu in Edmonton. Evidence from Baidoo’s phone revealed his involvement in the operation, and Bonsu's bank account showed multiple payments for the container's transport, further implicating the gang in the smuggling scheme.
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