Birmingham men used Christian group to smuggle cannabis - investigators

A gang used a Christian organisation as a front to import 400kg (881lbs) of cannabis into the UK, the National Crime Agency (NCA) has said.

Dalton Anderson, Sinclair Tucker and Alvin Russell shipped three loads of the drug in tins of Calaloo, a Jamaican green vegetable, and Akee fruit.

All were addressed to Vision Christian Ministries, the NCA said, arriving at Birmingham Airport from Jamaica.

The men, from the Midlands, were found guilty of importing the class B drug.

The consignments - sent between March and May 2017 - had a street value of about £2m, the NCA said.

Anderson, 50, and Tucker, 64, both of Groveland Road, Tipton, and Russell, 45, of Wood Lane, West Bromwich, were arrested at the airport on 23 May of that year, while inspecting the third consignment which had just arrived.

The trio organised the importations and collected the drugs from the airport, investigators said.

Anderson and Russell also spent some time in Jamaica when the importations were made, handling money and providing shipping documentation to Vision Christian Ministries (VCM) via Tucker, they added.

'A smokescreen'

The men all denied conspiring to import a class B drug, but were convicted at Birmingham Crown Court on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Anderson was also convicted of possession with intent to supply class B drugs after investigators said 5kg (11lbs) of cannabis was found at his home following his arrest.

NCA operations manager Rick Mackenzie said: "Anderson, Tucker and Russell cynically used a Christian ministry as a smokescreen to import huge quantities of cannabis into the UK.

"They wrongly believed that this would put them beyond the reach of the National Crime Agency and our law enforcement partners."

Paul Harper, assistant director of Inland Border Command for Border Force, said: "This was outstanding work to stop £2m worth of drugs reaching Britain's streets and causing further harm to our communities."

The men are due to be sentenced at the same court on 27 January.

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