Two jailed for smuggling 2.5 tonnes of cannabis hidden in yams
Anand Tripathi and Varun Bhardwaj were sentenced to a combined 34 years at Isleworth Crown Court in December 2023 for importing 2,503 kg of cannabis hidden in farm produce, including just over two tonnes in yams from Ghana. The same conspiracy moved 273 kg of cocaine and 18.6 million cigarettes through a freight-company cover.
🇬🇧 Isleworth, London · United Kingdom
Convicted
2
Sentenced
2
Cannabis
2.50336 t
Agencies
🇬🇧UK Border Force, South West Regional Organised Crime Unit +1
Anand Tripathi, 61, and Varun Bhardwaj, 39, were sentenced at Isleworth Crown
Court in west London to a combined 34 years in prison for smuggling cocaine,
cannabis and cigarettes hidden in farm produce.[1][2]A jury had convicted
them in November after a 71-day trial.[1][2]Sentencing was reported on 15
December 2023.[2]
The court heard the pair imported 272.86 kg of cocaine and 2,503.36 kg of
cannabis across four shipments between September 2021 and November 2022.[1][2]One shipment held just over two tonnes of cannabis hidden among yams
from Ghana, while 49 kg of cocaine arrived concealed with oranges from South
Africa.[1][2]They used their freight company to clear containers and divert
them to a warehouse they controlled, where organised crime groups collected
the loads.[1][2]The drugs, worth an estimated 28.9 million pounds on the
street, were all seized before sale and later destroyed by police.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Convicted
2
Sentenced
2
Cannabis
2.50336 t
Agencies
🇬🇧UK Border Force; South West Regional Organised Crime Unit; Crown Prosecution Service
GG2gg2.netTwo Men Jailed For Smuggling Illegal Drugs Worth £29 Million
Open questions the AI reported
Sentence split: one account gives Tripathi 19 years and Bhardwaj 15, while the other reverses the two terms; this report uses only the combined 34 years.
The reported 28.9 million pound street value covers the cocaine as well as the cannabis and cannot be separated.
The reports say other members of the conspiracy have not been identified.
Darren Davis, 39, a homeless man, and his partner Catherine Evans, 36, were sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court in November 2026 for dealing 'spice' and a small cannabis quantity. Police found Davis carrying six bags of spice worth up to £750 on 2 June, and later searches of his hostel, a storage unit and Evans' home uncovered more drugs and thousands of pounds in cash.
Joel Niven, 20, of Walney near Barrow-in-Furness, was convicted of cannabis possession after officers recovered a sealed bag from him at Barrow Park. Magistrates fined him £80, ordered £117 in costs and surcharge, and sought forfeiture of the drugs. He had a previous caution for cannabis possession from December 2025.
Rorie Jeffs, 25, of Aylesbury, was found guilty of possession of cannabis at High Wycombe Magistrates' Court and ordered to pay £85 plus a further £26 surcharge. He was one of the most recent cases concluded at the court as reported in the 10 November 2026 round-up.
Three men were each jailed for four years over a large-scale cannabis factory in Greenock's former Tobacco Warehouse, raided in June 2025 with more than 1,000 plants. Ariel Ruko has appealed his sentence, with a hearing due at the High Court in Edinburgh on 17 November 2026.
