South African remanded over 28 kg of herbal cannabis at Belfast airport
Customs officers seized around 28 kilos of herbal cannabis worth about £112,000 at Belfast City Airport on 7 September 2003. Edward Lee Earsnshaw, 43, appeared at Belfast Magistrates Court the next day charged with illegally importing prohibited substances and was remanded for four weeks.
Customs anti-smuggling officers seized around 28 kilos of herbal cannabis at Belfast City Airport on Sunday 7 September 2003.[1][2]The haul carried an estimated street value of £112,000.[1]
Edward Lee Earsnshaw, 43, a South African national, appeared at Belfast Magistrates Court on Monday 8 September charged with illegally importing prohibited substances.[1]He was remanded in custody for four weeks.[1]Customs senior investigation officer John Whiting said removing the cannabis showed Customs’ commitment to the multi-agency fight against drugs.[1]
Case data
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Five people have been charged over the importation into Southampton of about 12 tonnes of cannabis from Canada, seized by Border Force on 3 May 2026 in two shipping containers. All five are due at Bristol Crown Court, where two of them have already denied the offences.
Benjamin Rudd, 39, pleaded guilty to producing cannabis after police seized 57 plants from his former home on Northumberland Road in Lemington. Prosecutors reject his claim the crop was for personal use and allege at least some was for onward sale, so the court ordered a Newton hearing to decide the basis for sentence.
Ndue Paluca, an Albanian jailed for 10 months in 2021 over a cannabis gang whose farms police raided in Kent and Hertfordshire, has won the right to a formal appeal against his deportation. Upper Tribunal Judge Sarah Grey set aside a first-tier finding that his crime caused serious harm, because officers seized the cannabis before it reached the streets, and sent the case to a new judge.
Harvey Curtis, 57, of Mablethorpe, pleaded not guilty at Boston Magistrates' Court to drug-driving and cannabis possession charges. He is accused of driving with 3.9 micrograms of THC per litre of blood and possessing cannabis in Boston on April 23, and will face trial after a February hearing.
