South Africans jailed over cannabis smuggling
Two South Africans caught smuggling cannabis at Belfast City Airport were each jailed today for two years.
Customs officers afterwards claimed the sentencing should act as a warning to others.
Northern Ireland’s Head of Investigation Jane Salt said: “The vigilance of customs officers has stopped a significant amount of drugs reaching our streets.”
Jacobus Frederick Engelbrecht, 24 and Mark Human, 43, were stopped separately after travelling from Johannesburg to Northern Ireland in September 2003.
Human, it was alleged, was found to have 20kg of cannabis worth £61,000 (€91,300) hidden in his luggage. Engelbrecht was stopped with 15kg of cannabis worth £46,000 (€68,900) in his luggage.
The two men pleaded guilty at Belfast Crown Court to charges of illegal importation.
