A mother from Worcestershire has been convicted for her part in an operation that attempted to bring 460kg of cannabis from Thailand into Britain in 22 suitcases.

Paige Crisp, 24, of Malvern, was among a group stopped by Border Force at Birmingham Airport on August 9, 2024, after travelling from Thailand via France. The cannabis, a Class B drug in the UK, was valued at GBP13.8 million.

Suitcases carried 20kg each

The group had flown from Birmingham to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris before continuing to Thailand. National Crime Agency officers became suspicious after four members travelled from Birmingham with two large suitcases each.

On the return journey, each gang member had two large cases, each containing over 20kg of cannabis. The luggage was so heavy that the group paid excess baggage charges at Bangkok Airport to place it in the aircraft hold.

Investigators found a thin layer of clothing placed over vacuum-packed cannabis in the bags. Eight Apple AirTag trackers, all linked to the same Apple ID, were also recovered.

Three due to be sentenced in October

Crisp was convicted on August 19 of attempting to carry, remove, deposit, harbour, keep, conceal and deal with Class B drugs with intent to evade prohibition on importing.

Gideon Olumoyegun with suitcases prior to return flight

She was one of the final three members of the group to be convicted at Birmingham Crown Court. Crisp appeared alongside Tasia Nelson, 22, of Newquay, Cornwall, and Jaden Ramen, 23, of Merton, London. The three are due to be sentenced on October 22.

Carsten Kyei, 21, of Plaistow, London, and Nathan Vitorino, 26, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, were found guilty after a three-week trial on May 26.

Bradley Lloyd, 27, of Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester, and Lewis Ross, 35, of Bolton, Lancashire, changed their pleas to guilty during that trial. Claire McCullough, 36, of Wythenshawe; Ryan Boachie, 32, of Edmonton; Gideon Oluwasetemi Olumoyegun, 26, of Dagenham; and Jamal Clarke, 22, of Mile End, had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing.

Lewis Ross in conversation with Lloyd at Birmingham Airport

Kyei, Vitorino, Boachie, Olumoyegun, Ross, Lloyd and McCullough are to be sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on September 3.

Agencies warn prospective couriers

NCA senior investigating officer Paul Boniface said the operation involved extensive planning and co-ordination of flights and luggage. He thanked Border Force for stopping the drugs and warned anyone approached to smuggle drugs that they would face justice.

Adam Chatfield, head of Border Force Midlands Command, said the convictions should be a "stark warning" and that those involved now faced serious criminal records affecting job prospects and life chances.

Pictures courtesy of Daily Mall

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22 August 2026

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With the usual picture of her looking lovingly at a telephone with a gormless expression!

Sentencing still to happen but for attempting to smuggle nearly 1/2 a ton worth 13.8 million GBP of weed into the UK given the UK 's turnstile jail policy and slap on the wrist 'don't do it again you naughty boy/girl' attitude looking at the report yesterday about the social media influencer from the UK that got early release after 16 weeks for a failed 17kg cannabis smuggling attempt I am sure this lady will be looking at at least 20 weeks hard time in the UK justice system!

2 hours ago, jacko45k said:

With the usual picture of her looking lovingly at a telephone with a gormless expression!

Are you sure that's a member of H. sapiens? At my (old) age she looks more like something of intergalactic origin.

"attempted to bring 460kg of cannabis from Thailand into Britain in 22 suitcases."

Now come on, they were not , obviously going to use this for themselves?

They should be charged with trafficking drugs, but in the UK they will probably get a very light sentence, prison term suspended or a fine??

Half a tonne loaded at bkk airport without detection. Great work Thailand. 😂😂😂

5 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

22 suitcases.

Nothing suspicious, move along nothing to see

3 hours ago, jacko45k said:

With the usual picture of her looking lovingly at a telephone with a gormless expression!

Then you look at her companion....The Beauty and the Beast.

19 minutes ago, AustinRacing said:

Half a tonne loaded at bkk airport without detection. Great work Thailand. 😂😂😂

I'm sure that load was tracked from the minute it was checked in. Interpol was notified, and all communications were monitored.

37 minutes ago, AustinRacing said:

Half a tonne loaded at bkk airport without detection. Great work Thailand. 😂😂😂

You don't think there's a possibility that they were working with the UK authorities?

1 hour ago, wombat said:

Nothing suspicious, move along nothing to see

Quite so, I though smugglers try to be inconspicuous, checking in 22 suitcases and having to pay excess is definitely a red flag!😅

2 hours ago, mfd101 said:

Are you sure that's a member of H. sapiens? At my (old) age she looks more like something of intergalactic origin.

Looks to me Artificial, but not so sure about the Intelligence!

1 hour ago, Liverpool Lou said:

You don't think there's a possibility that they were working with the UK authorities?

Yep! This is an easy catch for Thai dope dogs too.They would hit this load from 200 meters out.

Be out in less than a year I'm sure 🙄

22 suitcases! 22 suitcases! The photo of the 26 cases lined up blew my mind away. 460kg with an estimated retail value of GBP13.8 million. What were these naive mules thinking of ? Ok, my bad, they weren't thinking.

7 hours ago, jacko45k said:

With the usual picture of her looking lovingly at a telephone with a gormless expression!

Pity (for her) that the obvious AI enhancement of the 1st photo didn't quite get all the teeth (which I imagine are stained brown being an obvious smoker!!!) giving only the front 3 or 4 the brilliant white "Colgate" look!

It also couldn't deal with her hidden 'puppy fat' on the tummy 😜

4 hours ago, AustinRacing said:

Half a tonne loaded at bkk airport without detection.

If Thai immigration/customs had a sniffer dog, it probably would have died from inhalation alone.

4 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

You don't think there's a possibility that they were working with the UK authorities?

And miss out on the photo opportunity with farangs pointing at the haul? Don’t think so.

37 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

If Thai immigration/customs had a sniffer dog, it probably would have died from inhalation alone.

Or run around the check-in in area like a lunatic and trying to fly!

9 hours ago, jacko45k said:

With the usual picture of her looking lovingly at a telephone with a gormless expression!

"Gormless" is an under-rated expression, and one of the finest exports to the rest of the English-speaking world from Britain.
It's is also under used, especially in describing posts such as hers since the "duck face" selfie photo seems to have gone out of fashion.
Thanks for exposing its use to North American readers.

Brains of Britain.I understand now how we lost the Empire.

48 minutes ago, The Oracle said:

"Gormless" is an under-rated expression, and one of the finest exports to the rest of the English-speaking world from Britain.
It's is also under used, especially in describing posts such as hers since the "duck face" selfie photo seems to have gone out of fashion.
Thanks for exposing its use to North American readers.

Hahahaha,it’s one of my favourite words too.

I was brought up in Lancashire hearing that word every day.Usually directed at me.

Does nobody question these figures ? £13.8 million for 460kg works out at £30 per gram Whoever valued it is paying a damn sight more for their weed than anybody I know , At best , sold on street corners ,by the gram, it might be worth 1/4 of that amount sold by the kilo it might make £4000 per kilo if they were lucky which reduces its value to 1.8 million

They should not be punished too harshly, its basically a victimless crime , and they are obviously retarded to have even attempted this

Wonder if they had planned how to distribute such a large amount , once the rival gangs ( normally Albanians) found out about this, they would quickly just take it off them , if they were lucky, If their luck was not holding out they would also get their legs broken or worse

9 hours ago, AustinRacing said:

Half a tonne loaded at bkk airport without detection. Great work Thailand. 😂😂😂

That hot number would have been i

9 hours ago, AustinRacing said:

Half a tonne loaded at bkk airport without detection. Great work Thailand. 😂😂😂

That hot UK number would have out smarted the Thai guys... after all...

Be more empathetic.

Hopefully this prolongued period of incarceration will not affect her prostitution career when she is released.

"Its only me personal stash mon. I kan blaze oop a sutcase of bud a week. Sell it - comeon. Why would I doo that?"

There's a photo of the gang behind this... Just search 'Faces of gang behind £13m Birmingham Airport drug plot including Midlands mum! No surprises at all.

I weep at what has been done to the UK... 😢

If you see council estate young Brits wandering around in Thailand, not Benidorm or Magaluf. You can wager there is a good chance they are there for THIS reason.

12 hours ago, PomPolo said:

Sentencing still to happen but for attempting to smuggle nearly 1/2 a ton worth 13.8 million GBP of weed into the UK given the UK 's turnstile jail policy and slap on the wrist 'don't do it again you naughty boy/girl' attitude looking at the report yesterday about the social media influencer from the UK that got early release after 16 weeks for a failed 17kg cannabis smuggling attempt I am sure this lady will be looking at at least 20 weeks hard time in the UK justice system!

I posted this yesterday having seen it on the BBC. She didn't smuggle in half a ton, there were 11 people each bringing 2 suit cases.

1 hour ago, ravip said:

That hot number would have been i

That hot UK number would have out smarted the Thai guys... after all...

Be more empathetic.

Not only that but they were over their baggage allowance and paid for excess baggage.