Americans caught flying from LA to Heathrow with cannabis are jailed

Two Americans who were caught transporting cannabis into the UK on a flight from to have become the latest US nationals to be jailed for smuggling.

Massa Momolu Talery, 35, of , was stopped at Airport last month after border officers found 20 kilograms of herbal cannabis with an estimated street-value of £400,000 in his bags.

He admitted the importation of class B drugs at Isleworth Crown Court last Thursday and was sentenced to eight months in jail. 

Gerald Jean-Leger, 26, of , was caught with 27 kilos of marijuana in suitcases just two weeks prior.He was given a ten month sentence for the same offence the day after Talery.

Dozens of young US citizens are passing through the UK court system over allegations they smuggled huge hauls of cannabis from California – where the drug is legal.

Britain’s FBI – the National Crime Agency – said young Americans are arriving from states where the drug is legal for it to be sold on for a premium to underworld gangs in the UK.

Talery, a construction worker, was stopped at Terminal three on February 4 after telling border officers he was visiting the UK on a two-week holiday.

But security opened his bags and found 20 kilograms of herbal cannabis that he had flown over from the states.

In his interview with NCA investigators, Talery claimed he smuggled the drugs to clear debts.

Jean-Leger was caught on January 19 attempting to smuggle 27 kilos of cannabis into the UK on a flight from LA.Similarly, the drugs were packed into his checked luggage.

Isleworth Crown Court handed the pair jail terms for importing class B drugs, with Talery receiving an eight-month sentence on March 9 and Jean-Legal being jailed for 10 months the next day.

‘Organised crime gangs need couriers like Talery and Jean-Leger to bring their illicit substances into the UK,’ NCA Heathrow Branch Commander Andy Noyes said in a press release on Monday.

‘Couriers are often recruited with promises of payment or free holidays. But in reality these attempts just end in jail sentences. 

He added: ‘I’d urge anyone considering smuggling cannabis into the UK, whether from the US or elsewhere, to think twice.It isn’t worth the risk.

‘The NCA and our partners in Border Force are targeting drugs smugglers and will do all we can to disrupt the gangs involved.’

The latest smugglers to be convicted are just two of 25 US nationals caught allegedly trying to sneak the bulky class B narcotic into the UK since the start of 2023.

Another set of weed smugglers were arrested after arriving at Heathrow from LA between January 13 and 15.

New Yorkers Ara Janneh, 25, and Madani BA Junior, 23, plus Texan Sabrina Desiree Hobby, 29, were jailed at the same court earlier month.

On January 17, three more were arrested, all aboard one United Airlines flight from LA to Heathrow carrying weed with a combined street value of £1.7million.

Barrington Walters, Crunchy Cheetos 500mg THC 24, from Los Angeles, Mandy Silowka, 34, from Princeton, New Jersey, were also jailed at Isleworth.

Kiara Lanee Malone, 31, from St Louis, Missouri is currently remanded in custody until her hearing at the same court on April 5 after she pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing.

Malone told NCA officers she was travelling to the UK for cosmetic procedures and someone gave her the bags, which she believed were filled with clothes, but were stuffed with 27.5 kilograms of cannabis.

Twenty-five US-born defendants, plus one Canadian, were caught bringing the ‘unsophisticated’ vacuum packed suitcases in checked baggage, barely concealing the drugs.

As a result, a queue of pot-smuggling cases is racking up at Isleworth Crown Court, five miles from Heathrow in west London.

So far eight defendants have been tried, leaving 17 cases left to be heard, with one being handled in Edinburgh.

Until recently, the vast majority tried to import the drugs on flights from LAX to Heathrow.Border force officers have upped security on the flight path as a result.

However, some have now started flying in from other states, police said.

Detectives said an average of 30 and 40 kilos are being seized from Americans, with the largest bag measuring around 70 kilograms.

In January the NCA issued a warning after 11 American citizens were arrested in eight days, carrying over 400kg of cannabis between them.

Despite beefed up security at LAX, cannabis smugglers have still been arriving in the UK, with some working under the promise of a free holiday or money.

NCA could not comment on whether it was the work of a single gang, but are investigating whether the attempted imports are connected.