Antioch man given jail sentence for attempting to smuggle pot into UK
LONDON -- A Bay Area photographer, arrested in a crackdown on drug trafficking through London's Heathrow Airport, has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in an English prison, officials announced Thursday.
Zered Akolo from Antioch was one of 11 people were detained at Heathrow between Tuesday January 10 and January 17 with more than 882 pounds of the drug seized in total.
The 26-year-old Akolo was stopped at Heathrow on January 16 after arriving on a flight from Los Angeles. He claimed to be travelling to the UK to visit university friends.
But during a search of his two checked-in suitcases, Border Force officers discovered around 103 pounds of cannabis inside worth nearly $1 million on the streets.
Akolo initially denied the bags were his, even though they had his name tags on them, but after being questioned by investigators he was charged with attempting to import drugs.
At a hearing at Isleworth Crown Court in west London, Akolo pleaded guilty and was sentenced him to 32 months in prison.
"Akolo was foolish in the extreme to think he could get away with a brazen drug smuggling trip like this," said NCA Heathrow Branch Commander Andy Noyes in a news release. "As a result he faces a long period of time away from friends and family in a British jail...I hope this case serves as a warning to others who would consider acting as drugs mules for organised criminal gangs – it isn't worth taking the chance."
Akolo's conviction is the first following a series of cannabis interceptions made off flights from the United States to Heathrow throughout January and February. At least 19 US nationals and one Canadian have so-far been charged.