Paige Crisp, the 24-year-old 'drug mule' who married the last person to see Jay Slater alive, has been jailed alongside Claire McCullough, 36, from Wythenshawe, after helping a gang attempt to smuggle £13.8 million worth of cannabis into the UK.
Crisp and McCullough were among a group of 11 Brits stopped by Border Force with 460kg of the Class B drug found collectively in their luggage. The National Crime Agency (NCA) investigated the group, who were arrested at Birmingham Airport in August 2024 when the drugs were found packed into 22 suitcases.
Marriage to Ayub Qassim
Earlier this year, it was revealed that Crisp married Ayub Qassim, the last person to see Jay Slater alive, in a traditional Islamic wedding in 2025. The ceremony is said to have taken place in Thailand, where Crisp and her gang smuggled drugs from.
Qassim, who served a nine-year prison sentence for drug offences, invited the apprentice bricklayer back to his AirBnB in Tenerife after a rave, sparking a month-long hunt for the 19-year-old. Jay went missing on June 17, 2024, while attending a music festival on his first holiday without his parents. His body was found after a search lasting 29 days, following a catastrophic fall on his way back to his accommodation.
Sentencing at Birmingham Crown Court
Crisp, from Malvern, Worcestershire, was convicted in August of attempting to carry, remove, deposit, harbour, keep, conceal and deal with Class B drugs, as well as intent to evade prohibition on importing. On October 22, she was sentenced to 30 months, while McCullough was sentenced to 24 months plus two months consecutive for assaulting a shop worker.
McCullough pleaded guilty at a previous hearing, alongside Ryan Boachie, 32, of Edmonton, London; Gideon Oluwasetemi Olumoyegun, 26, of Dagenham, London, and Jamal Clarke, 22, of Mile End, London. Olumoyegun was sentenced to 24 months, Boachie to 24 months, and Jaden Ramen, 23, of Merton, London, to 32 months.
Investigation and other convictions
The gang attempted to smuggle cannabis from Thailand, travelling via Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris before being arrested at Birmingham Airport on August 9, 2024. Each member was detained with two large suitcases holding 20kg of cannabis inside. The NCA revealed suspicions were raised when four passengers with two large suitcases each travelled from Birmingham to Charles de Gaulle that day, with eight containing Apple AirTag trackers connected to the same Apple ID.
Other members of the 11 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, was jailed for four years, and Lewis Ross, 35, of Bolton, for two years and eight 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."
