Two South Africans jailed two years each over Belfast airport cannabis
Belfast Crown Court jailed Jacobus Frederick Engelbrecht, 24, and Mark Human, 43, for two years each on 1 April 2004 for smuggling cannabis through Belfast City Airport. Customs had stopped Engelbrecht with over 15 kg and Human with 20 kg after arrivals from Johannesburg in September 2003.
Belfast Crown Court on 1 April 2004 jailed two South African nationals for two years each for importing cannabis through Belfast City Airport.[1]Jacobus Frederick Engelbrecht, 24, had been stopped by Customs officers on arrival from Johannesburg via Heathrow in September 2003, and officers found over 15 kg of cannabis worth an estimated £46,000 concealed in his luggage.[1][2]In a separate seizure Mark Human, 43, had been stopped at the same airport after arriving from Johannesburg in September 2003 with 20 kg of cannabis worth an estimated £61,000 in his luggage.[1]
Judge Markey said the sentences should send a message to Johannesburg that smuggling cannabis into Northern Ireland would not be tolerated.[1]Customs head of investigation for Northern Ireland Jane Salt said removing over £107,000 worth of cannabis showed Customs’ commitment to the multi-agency fight against drugs.[1]Engelbrecht had appeared at Belfast Magistrates Court in late September 2003 charged with illegally importing prohibited substances and had been remanded in custody.[2]
Case data
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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)
