Couriers smuggled cannabis into UK by hiding them in Turkish delight and rolling pins

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Delivery drivers Andrae Davis and Vincent Simpson’s scam was rumbled when Border Force officers found one of the packages in a Coventry Post Office depot

Two couriers smuggled cannabis worth over £750,000 into Britain by hiding them in packages labelled to fake addresses.

The drugs were concealed in numerous items, including packets of Turkish delight and rolling pins.

Delivery drivers Andrae Davis and Vincent Simpson’s scam was rumbled when Border Force officers found one of the packages in a Coventry Post Office depot.

Davis, 43, of Harthill Street, Willenhall, was charged with conspiracy to import cannabis with a street value of £231,942 and was sentenced to two years four months in jail.

Vincent Simpson, 42, of Federation Road, Stoke-On-Trent, faced a charge of conspiracy to import cannabis worth £525,571 and received a two years four months jail term. He also had a second charge of possession of cannabis for which he received a 28 day jail term to run concurrently.

Manchester Crown Court heard the pair became the focus of a National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation which found that between June 2015 and last July 57 packages of cannabis were sent on routes operated by Davis and Simpson.



The smuggling route was discovered after Border Force officers detected a package containing 8.3kg of cannabis at a Post Office depot in Coventry in October 2015.

Border Force officers detected 16 of the deliveries in total, each labelled for fake addresses in Stockport. A Royal Mail investigation examined Parcel Force records and identified a further 41 deliveries that used the same method.


They found that Davis and Simpson had made false records of successful deliveries on the Parcel Force system.

NCA officers arrested Davis in December 2015, and released him, before re-arresting him in June last year along with Simpson.

John Hughes, operations manager at the NCA, said: “In partnership with investigators at Royal Mail and Border Force officers, we’ve put an end to a smuggling route that was capable of moving significant quantities of drugs.


“With a case like this one, yes, we’ve stopped cannabis being smuggled, but it’s important to think what else could have been sent via these couriers if those at the other end of the supply chain had diversified their criminal activity.

“This shows the vital importance of working with partners in law enforcement and industry to defeat criminal threats to the UK.”

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"Turkish delight"

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'Drug smuggler' Vincent Simpson is behind bars after conspiring to import cannabis with a street value of more than £500,000 into Britain.

The delivery driver teamed up with a colleague to oversee the transportation of 57 packages of cannabis over a 13-month period.

But the 'smuggling' route was busted after the Border Force intercepted a package containing 8.3-kilograms of cannabis at a post office depot.

The smuggling operation was 'capable of moving significant quantities of drugs'. The drugs were concealed in numerous items - including packets of Turkish delight and rolling pins.

Now Simpson, of Federation Road, Burslem, has been jailed for 28 months after admitting the conspiracy charge as well as possessing cannabis at Manchester Crown Court.

Fellow defendant - Andrae Davis, aged 43, from the West Midlands - has also been jailed for 28 months after conspiring to import cannabis with a street value of £231,942.

The operation ran from June, 2015 to July, 2016.

A Border Force investigation discovered 16 drug deliveries with each package labelled to fake addresses in Stockport. The drivers would then make a false record of a successful delivery on the Parcel Force system.

A separate Royal Mail investigation then looked at Parcel Force records and identified a further 41 deliveries using the same delivery method.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) arrested Davis in December 2015 - with Simpson held in June last year.

NCA operations manager John Hughes said: "In partnership with investigators at Royal Mail and Border Force officers, we've put an end to a smuggling route that was capable of moving significant quantities of drugs.

"With a case like this we have stopped cannabis being smuggled. But it is important to consider what else could have been sent via these couriers if those at the other end of the supply chain had diversified their criminal activity.

"This shows the vital importance of working with partners in law enforcement and industry to defeat criminal threats to the UK."