A 24-year-old mother of a four-year-old has been jailed for more than two years for helping a gang smuggle £13.8 million worth of cannabis into the UK. Paige Crisp was part of a group of 11 Britons stopped by Border Force at Birmingham Airport with a combined 460kg of drugs in their luggage.
How the smuggling operation worked
The group paid extra baggage charges to transport 22 suitcases into the UK. Each member was detained with two large cases containing 20kg of cannabis, and excess charges were paid at Bangkok Airport to place the bags in the hold.
The drugs, a Class B substance, had a street value of £13.8 million. The gang was attempting to smuggle cannabis from Thailand, travelling via Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris before being arrested at Birmingham Airport on August 9, 2024.
Arrest and investigation details
The National Crime Agency said suspicions were raised when four passengers with two large suitcases each travelled from Birmingham to Charles de Gaulle that day. The luggage had a thin layer of clothing on top of vacuum-packed cannabis, and eight contained Apple AirTag trackers, all connected to the same Apple ID.
Crisp, from Malvern, Worcestershire, was among the final three members convicted at Birmingham Crown Court on August 19. She appeared alongside Tasia Nelson, 22, of Newquay, Cornwall, and Jaden Ramen, 23, of Merton, London.
Other convictions and sentences
Other members of the group have also been convicted. Carsten Kyei, 21, from Plaistow, London, and Nathan Vitorino, 26, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, were found guilty during a three-week trial on May 26. Bradley Lloyd, 27, of Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester, and Lewis Ross, 35, of Bolton, Lancashire, changed their plea to guilty during the same trial.
Claire McCullough, 36, of Wythenshawe; Ryan Boachie, 32, of Edmonton, London; Gideon Oluwasetemi Olumoyegun, 26, of Dagenham, London; and Jamal Clarke, 22, of Mile End, London, all pleaded guilty at a previous hearing.
Crisp was sentenced on October 22 alongside Olumoyegun, who received 24 months; Boachie, 24 months; McCullough, 24 months plus two months consecutively for assaulting a shop worker; and Ramen, 32 months.
Paul Boniface, NCA senior investigating officer, said: "These couriers are now facing time in prison and life-altering convictions that put future career and travel prospects in serious peril. Their cases should serve as a warning to others that it's not worth the risk, and the price paid is simply too high. We are grateful to our partners at Border Force who discovered these drugs. The NCA will continue to do all we can to stop drugs being smuggled into the UK and deprive criminal groups of profits."
