South African jailed over 17 kg of cannabis at Belfast airport
Gabriel Erasmus, 49, was jailed for two and a half years at Belfast Crown Court on 10 October 2003 after pleading guilty to smuggling almost 17 kg of herbal cannabis through Belfast City Airport. Customs had intercepted him on 20 January arriving from Johannesburg via Heathrow with the drug hidden in his suitcase lining.
On 10 October 2003 Belfast Crown Court jailed South African Gabriel Jacobus Frederick Erasmus, 49, for two and a half years after he pleaded guilty to attempting to smuggle cannabis through Belfast City Airport.[1]Customs officers had intercepted him on 20 January on arrival from Johannesburg via London Heathrow.[1]Inside his suitcase officers found packages glued to the underside of a board hidden beneath the lining, holding almost 17 kilos of compressed herbal cannabis with a street value of 50,000 pounds.[1]Customs’ head of investigation for Northern Ireland Jane Salt said removing the cannabis from the criminal supply chain showed Customs’ commitment to the multi-agency fight against drugs.[1]In sentencing, Judge Burgess said the message must go out that Northern Ireland courts would punish drug smuggling heavily.[1]
Remand
Erasmus, then 48, appeared at Belfast Laganside Courts the day after the seizurecharged with illegally importing prohibited substances and was remanded in custody until 28 January.[2]The earlier report put the seizure at around 17 kilos of herbal cannabis with an estimated street value of 53,000 pounds.[2]Customs’ head of anti-smuggling for Northern Ireland Colin McAllister said the seizure showed the same commitment to detecting cannabis smugglers alongside work against Class A drugs.[2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
The January remand report names Belfast International Airport and a Johannesburg-bound flight, while the October sentencing report names Belfast City Airport and arrival from Johannesburg via Heathrow; the report follows the later detailed account.
The remand report estimated the street value at 53,000 pounds, while the sentencing report put it at 50,000 pounds; the report uses the later figure.
Both opened reports come from the same local outlet; no second outlet's account of the case was found.
No photograph of the interception or the concealed packages with a recoverable direct image address was found in the opened sources.
Callum Roper, 22, of Holton Road, Barry, was jailed for 30 months at Cardiff Crown Court after admitting offences involving the supply of cannabis and magic mushrooms. He pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of both drugs between 3 December 2025 and 14 September 2026 and had been remanded in custody awaiting sentence.
Bolton Crown Court sentenced seven members of three linked drug gangs that trafficked cocaine and cannabis between Manchester, Stoke-on-Trent and North Wales. Five men received prison sentences of up to eleven and a half years, while two couriers received community orders and two leaders await later sentencing.
Daniel Thompson, 36, was found with 8,223.6 grams of cannabis resin, valued at up to £35,950, when officers searched a house on Moss Side Lane in Rixton in July 2023. Chester Crown Court gave him a nine-month prison sentence suspended for 12 months and 100 hours of unpaid work after he admitted possessing the resin with intent to supply and possessing cocaine.
Sentenced 1Cannabis 8.2236 kgPrison 9 months suspended for 12 months
Bradford Crown Court jailed Alfie Leahy, 21, for five years and Connor Broadbent, 26, for three years and four months over drugs found when police raided two homes in the Holmewood area at dawn on 17 July 2026. Cannabis was seized at a Grayswood Crescent address and cocaine, cash and jewellery at Dawson Street; police put the total street value of the drugs at more than £22,000.
Charged 2Prison 5 years (Leahy); 3 years and 4 months (Broadbent)
