Four Ghanaians have been found guilty of smuggling £4.5 million worth of cannabis from Ghana to south Essex, United Kingdom.
They are Daniel Yeboah, 54, Kristoffen Baidoo, 48, Kwaku Bonsu, 52, all from London, and Edward Adjei, 48, from Grays.
The convicts transported the cannabis hidden in sacks of gari powder in a shipping container in December 2019.
Law enforcement agencies began tracing the four after the National Crime Agency and the Ghanaian Narcotics Control Commission gathered intelligence that the shipping container contained illicit drugs.
A search confirmed that 2,335 packages of herbal cannabis, weighing 1.5 tonnes, were concealed within white hessian sacks.
They were evaluated at approximately £4.3million.
The authorities then swapped the cannabis with dummy packages.
In January 2020, the container was transported to north London under officers’ watch.
According to a report by the Southend Echo, the container was met by Daniel Yeboah, who signed the delivery note using a fake signature.
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Bonsu was observed circling the industrial yard in his car before taking photographs of the container using his mobile phone, and Adjei was spotted dropping Baidoo off at the yard.
When they observed the drugs were missing they fled the yard.
However, they were all arrested later in the day.
A further search revealed a hydraulic press, often used for compressing drugs, at Baidoo’s address.
Several devices were also seized from the men, including mobile phones and dash cams from their vehicles.
Phone recordings, text messages, e-mails and bank transactions between the group further revealed their plans.
A jury found them guilty following a three-week trial at Southwark Crown Court.
Meanwhile, all four will be sentenced on October 18, 2024.