Head of drugs gang convicted after smuggling cocaine in shipment of bananas

A leader of a criminal gang which tried to smuggle millions of pounds worth of illegal drugs into the UK in a shipment of bananas has today been convicted.  

Sajid Ali, 56, from Birmingham, directed four men - Robert Ball, Mirgent Shahu, Arman Kaviani and Florjan Ibra - in a drug smuggling plot. Their plan was to move a shipping container, which had arrived from Ecuador with cocaine concealed inside the roof, from London Gateway Port to an industrial estate in Coventry where the drugs could be extracted and distributed by the criminals.

 Ali was convicted of conspiracy to import a Class A drug in Warwick Crown Court today and is now awaiting sentencing. 

National Crime Agency (NCA) officers arrested the four men in April 2022 when they were in the process of removing what the gang thought was cocaine packets from the roof. In total, 139 kilograms of cocaine was seized by the NCA which was subsequently deemed to be worth up to £11,120,000 in street value.  

As the head of the criminal gang, Ali was considered too senior to get involved with handling the drugs himself on the day of the original arrests. He left the other defendants to carry out the plan, and when he couldn’t get hold of them, he booked a flight to Turkey and left the UK the same day. 

After the arrests of Ball, Shau, Kaviani and Ibra, the NCA’s investigation revealed the involvement of Ali, and he was arrested at Heathrow Airport trying to fly back to Turkey. He denied all involvement in conspiracy to import Class A drugs. Instead, Ali’s explanation was that he was simply trying to help Shahu with containers of cigarettes. 

In his interview, however, Ali admitted to owning two burner phones to maintain contact with Ball and Shahu, which provided evidence to show the groups movements and communications before the first set of arrests.  

Caroline Hughes, Specialist Prosecutor in the CPS said:  “This was a major operation, which saw a vast quantity of drugs seized before they could reach the community's streets.   

“Throughout the investigation, Sajid Ali refused to admit his involvement in this large-scale drug operation, however the evidence carefully pieced together by the NCA and the CPS demonstrated the leading role he played in this importation.

“The CPS is committed to working with investigators such as the National Crime Agency to ensure that criminal drugs gangs are brought to justice.” 

CPS Proceeds of Crime specialists have now started proceedings to ensure that any profits made by the gang from their illegal activities are confiscated. 

Ball, (59, of Greater Manchester) and Shahu (32, of West Midlands), were previously sentenced to 18 years each and Ibra (30, of East London) and Kaviani (37, of North-West London) to 13 years and 6 months and 12 years and 9 months respectively.