Heathrow Airport: Volleyball pro had cannabis worth £600k

Raekelle Powell, 22, arrived at Heathrow Airport on a flight from her home city of Toronto, Canada, on September 20. 

When her suitcase was searched officers found cannabis worth an estimated £600,000. 

In interview Powell said she was paid 300 Canadian dollars to carry the suitcase to the UK. 

Pro volleyball player Raekelle Powell (Image: NCA) Two days later Siobhan McAtavey, 24, from Northern Ireland, arrived at Heathrow Airport on a flight from Bangkok via Doha. 

Inside her suitcase officers found 44 kilos of cannabis, worth £1.1 million. 

On the same day Malaysian national Meu Chew Wong, 42, arrived at the airport from Bangkok via Bahrain. 

Inside his suitcase officers found 43 kilos of cannabis. 

When he was arrested he told officers he was transporting birds' nests for payment of 10,000 Malaysian Ringgit (approximately £1,775). 

All three pleaded guilty to drug smuggling offences. 

McAtavey was jailed for 20 months, Powell was jailed for 15 months and Wong was jailed for 16 months. 

Cannabis seized from Siobhan McAtavey (Image: NCA) National Crime Agency (NCA) Senior Investigating Officer Piers Phillips said: "These sentences should act as a stark warning to anybody thinking of smuggling cannabis into the UK – you will be arrested, prosecuted and put into prison. 

"The gangs responsible for this trade have no concern for the fate of the couriers they employ to smuggle the drugs. All they care about is maximising profit and making their criminal enterprises viable. 

"We continue to work with our partners at home, including Border Force, and those abroad to disrupt this trade and destroy the business model being used." 

The NCA said increased seizures are fuelled by organised crime gangs who have access to cannabis grown overseas where it is legal – in particular Thailand, Canada and the USA. 

They then recruit couriers to transport it to the UK where it can generate greater profit than growing it themselves in the UK.