A Nigerian, Gideon Oluwasetemi Olumoyegun, who was nabbed among a gang of 11 drug couriers plotting to smuggle cannabis worth £13.8 million into the UK via Birmingham Airport, pleaded guilty and now awaits sentence.

The National Crime Agency said Mr Olumoyegun, 26, from Dagenham, alongside the other 10, was arrested by Border Force officers in August 2024 when the Class B drugs were found packed into 22 suitcases.

The 26-year-old Nigerian and his gang members arrived in the UK on the same flights from Thailand via Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Birmingham Crown Court heard that the couriers each had two suitcases, both packed with 20 kilos of cannabis, totalling 460 kilos. Each suitcase had a thin layer of clothing above the vacuum-packed cannabis, and eight contained Apple AirTag trackers.

While several gang members were convicted on Wednesday after a four-week trial, Mr Olumoyegun pleaded guilty at earlier hearings. Mr Olumoyegun will be sentenced on September 3. Those convicted will be sentenced on October 22.

Paul Boniface, NCA senior investigating officer, said, “A huge amount of planning went into this sophisticated attempt to bring hundreds of kilos of cannabis into the UK. With thanks to Border Force, we were able to confiscate these drugs and stop criminals from benefitting financially from the damage they cause. Anyone who is approached to smuggle drugs into the UK should take this as a sign; you will not succeed, and if you try, you will face justice.”