BBC
The leader of a drug gang which attempted to smuggle cocaine worth £11 million in a consignment of bananas has been convicted.
Sajid Ali, from Birmingham, was arrested by National Crime Agency (NCA) officers at Heathrow Airport in January – minutes before he could board a flight to Istanbul.
The 56-year-old denied involvement in the large-scale operation, where nearly 140kg (300lb) of cocaine was found hidden in a shipping container in April 2022.
Following a three-week trial, Ali was convicted by a jury at Coventry Crown court on Tuesday and will be sentenced on 16 October.
Other members of the gang were arrested while unloading the container at a storage firm in Coventry, not knowing border force officers had already removed the drugs and resealed the container, said the NCA.
The men, convicted and jailed for cocaine importation offences at Warwick Crown Court last year, are:
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Mirgent Shahu, 33, from Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands
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Robert Ball, 60, from Hale Barns, Cheshire
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Florjan Ibra, 31, from Barking, London
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Arman Kaviani, 38, from Golders Green, London
Border Force officials found the cocaine concealed in the shipping container on its arrival at London Gateway port, prompting a sting by the National Crime Agency (NCA) .
Investigators removed the drugs and resealed the container, putting it under surveillance and waiting to see who would claim it.
A few days later Ball, who was working for Albanian drug dealers, asked the shipping line to release the container and had it moved to the storage site in Herald Way, Coventry.
The NCA said Ali “deliberately distanced” himself from the operation, choosing instead to instruct the group via WhatsApp voice and text messages.
Ball and Shahu instructed Ibra and Kaviani, who used a forklift truck to get on top of the container.
They tore open the roof using a crowbar and started unloading packages they believed contained the drugs, but as they did so NCA and police officers moved in to arrest them.
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