Man jailed after ’28kg of cannabis found in his luggage’ at UK airport

A Canadian man has been jailed for 32 months after police at a UK airport found his luggage was stuffed with more than 28kg of cannabis.

Kouame Anhe, 20, aroused the suspicions of Border Force officers at Glasgow Airport after they stopped him at around 7.40am on July 8.

When they took him to the carousel to examine his luggage, he insisted he only had a small red suitcase.

This was despite two large black suitcases being checked in under his name.

They were later examined and found to contain 28.45kg of herbal cannabis, split into 55 packages.

Border Force estimated that this quantity of the Class B drug would have a street value of £284,500 and be worth around £110,000 on the wholesale market.

Anhe later admitted the cases were his but claimed he had not packed them and did not know what they contained.

He later pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cannabis, aggravated by a connection with serious organised crime.

Appearing at Paisley Sheriff Court last week, his defence lawyer told the court that Anhe had accepted his guilt from the start.

He explained that he turned a blind eye to what was placed inside the suitcases and saw the trip as a quick fix for his money problems.

He also said Anhe’s family had been threatened if he did not smuggle the drugs. Anhe also accepted that, in hindsight, he should have gone to the police, his lawyer said.

Sentencing, Sheriff Colin Pettigrew told Anhe that he knew he was involved in illegal activity and carried on regardless.

The sheriff said he was mindful of his age and the fact that cannabis is a Class B drug in the UK, but that the quantity involved could not be ignored.

Taking all this into account, he said that ‘custody is the only appropriate sentence’.

He handed him a four-year sentence, cut to 32 months to reflect his early guilty plea.

It was backdated to July 9, when Anhe was remanded in custody after his arrest.

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