A gang of smugglers used a dissolved religious charity as a front to help them traffic 400kg of cannabis into the UK in fruit and vegetable cans, a court heard.
The three men used Birmingham-based Vision Christian Ministries as a delivery address in 2017 for the consignments from Jamaica that were valued at £2m if sold on the streets.
According to Companies House, VCM was dissolved as a charity and a company on 1 November 2016 – a few months before the men’s crimes were committed.
The National Crime Agency said Dalton Anderson, 50, Alvin Russell, 45, and Sinclair Tucker, 64, trafficked the cannabis from Jamaica to Birmingham Airport in sealed tins of callaloo, a green vegetable, and akee fruit.
It was shipped in three separate consignments addressed to VCM between March and May 2017 and seized by Border Force.
The trio were arrested at the airport on 23 May of that year while inspecting the third consignment, which had just arrived.
An NCA press release said: “NCA investigators established that they organised the imports and collected the drugs from the airport.
“Anderson and Russell also spent some time in Jamaica when the importations were made, handling money and providing shipping documentation to VCM via Tucker.
“All three were charged with conspiracy to import class B drugs (cannabis), with Anderson also charged with possession with intent to supply class B drugs after five kilos of cannabis was found at his home following his arrest.”
Anderson was convicted at Birmingham Crown Court on 29 November, with the other two found guilty on 30 November, following a five-week trial. They are due to be sentenced at the same court on 27 January.
NCA operations manager Rick Mackenzie said: “Anderson, Tucker and Russell cynically used a Christian ministry as a smokescreen to import huge quantities of cannabis into the UK.
“They wrongly believed that this would put them beyond the reach of the National Crime Agency and our law enforcement partners.
“The NCA works closely with Border Force to disrupt and dismantle criminal networks involved in drug trafficking.”
Paul Harper, assistant director inland border command for Border Force, said: “This was outstanding work to stop £2m-worth of drugs reaching Britain’s streets and causing further harm to our communities.”