Leon Coley and Gemma Edgar were both carrying huge amounts of cannabis when they were caught on the same flight
Gemma Edgar and Leon Coley(Image: Facebook/GMP/M.E.N.)
Two drug couriers, each carrying substantial amounts of cannabis, were apprehended with over 60kg of cannabis on the same flight – and didn’t know each other.
Leon Coley, 30, and Gemma Edgar, 35 – both hailing from Birmingham but not connected in any way – were returning from Thailand via Dubai when they were intercepted just 10 minutes apart.
On 25 September this year, Manchester Airport Border Force officers questioned them. Coley was travelling with two medium-sized suitcases.
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A search revealed 32.9kg of cannabis. He informed officers that hotel staff had packed his bags for him, insisting he was oblivious to their contents.
Upon examining his phone, officers discovered a message reading ‘Get out quick’ – received just moments before his arrest.
Manchester Crown Court heard that Edgar was stopped with one large suitcase and a small bag, containing a total of 29.9kg of cannabis.
She told officers the drugs weren’t ‘hers’ and explained she had accumulated poker debts – around £35,000 – in Bangkok and felt threatened by those she owed money to.
Both Coley and Edgar admitted to fraudulently evading the importation of a class B drug. Coley received a prison sentence of a year and 10 months, while Edgar was given a suspended sentence.
In sentencing them, Recorder of Manchester Judge Nicholas Dean KC emphasised the ‘high requirement for deterrence’ for importing drugs, which would typically result in prison sentences. However, he stated that Edgar would not be incarcerated due to her mental health issues.
The court was told Coley informed airport officers he had travelled to Thailand for a holiday when a stranger approached him with an offer of payment to transport tobacco back to the UK.
“He said he was to meet him in Birmingham city centre for the handover,” prosecutor Mark Pritchard said. “He denied knowing the luggage contained cannabis and said his initial statement were conflicted due to tiredness.”
Coley’s barrister Nick Wrack said: “He answered an advert on social media – that gives you an indication of how brazen these organisers are. The advert said about making money, he was then told about the cannabis and he did volunteer to do it. He knew what he was getting into.”
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Mr Wrack explained that Coley, employed as a warehouse operative, planned to use the proceeds from the crime to provide for his family.
Edgar informed airport authorities that individuals she was indebted to employed ‘intimidation’ tactics to coerce her participation. “She was told to meet them in the UK and the consignment of drugs would repay the poker debt,” Mr Pritchard said.
Her barrister Eleanor Brambell appealed to the court for a suspended sentence. “She has been diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder,” she added.
“Ms Edgar is remorseful. This was a grave mistake which she regrets and will not make again. She takes full responsibility.”
The court heard that there had been 680 arrests this year alone for the same offence across the country. Judge Dean KC said: “This is an increasingly common offence. These people pray on people with financial difficulties.”
Coley, of Church Street, Birmingham, was jailed for a year and 10 months. Edgar, of Wheeler Street, Birmingham, was handed a year and four month sentence, suspended for two years, with 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days.