Drug mule mother, 24, who married Jay Slater's cocaine dealer is jailed for 30 months over massive UK cannabis smuggling plot

A drug mule mother who married Jay Slater's cocaine dealer has been jailed for more than two years after helping a gang smuggle £13million worth of cannabis.Paige Crisp, 24, was among a group of 11 Britons stopped by Border Force officers with 460kg of drugs in their 22 suitcases.Crisp married Ayub Qassim, the 33-year-old of Somali heritage who was the last to see Jay Slater alive, in a traditional Islamic wedding believed to have been held last year in Thailand.Qassim, who served nine years in prison for drug offences, invited Mr Slater, 19, back to his rented holiday cottage in Tenerife after a rave before he vanished.His disappearance began a month-long hunt for the apprentice bricklayer which gripped Britain two years ago.Crisp, who has a four-year-old daughter, was sentenced yesterday after being convicted of attempting to carry, remove, deposit, harbour, keep, conceal and deal with class B drugs and intent to evade prohibition on importing.She and the gang had paid extra baggage fees to smuggle the cannabis, which had a street value of £13.8million, from Thailand.The group flew via Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris before being arrested at Birmingham airport on August 9, 2024. Paige Crisp helped smuggle £13million worth of cannabis in 22 suitcases and has been jailed for two-and-a-half years Crisp married Ayub Qassim, the last person to see the late Jay Slater alive, in a Thailand wedding believed to have taken place last yearSlater vanished in Tenerife, Spain, in 2024. He was later found dead at the bottom of a ravine They had two large suitcases each with 20kg of vacuum-packed cannabis inside and a thin layer of clothing on top.Apple AirTag trackers were also inside the suitcases and all were connected to the same Apple ID.Crisp, a cleaner from Malvern, Worcestershire, had been a single mother before marrying Qassim, from east London.He was jailed 11 years ago for masterminding an operation to flood Wales with class A drugs.Qassim was the ringleader of a London-based crime gang who imported heroin and crack cocaine to Cardiff.When police raided a house in Cardiff, they found drugs, cash, mobile phones and digital scales after which Qassim was sentenced to nine years and nine months in prison.Alongside a series of recent loved-up photos posted on social media, Qassim posted captions including: 'I never knew how powerful love was until it came to me, in the form of you.'In another, Crisp appears to be dressed for a wedding, with henna tattoos on the back of her hands.She appeared in the same clothes in a YouTube clip where Qassim wore a traditional white robe. Qassim and his wife Crisp seen in their wedding video on TikTok Qassim, of Somali heritage, married Crisp in a traditional Islamic wedding in Thailand - the same country Crisp's gang smuggled drugs from Qassim in a South Wales Police mugshot following his arrest for participation in a drug operation Following her arrest, Crisp was convicted of attempting to carry, remove, deposit, harbour, keep, conceal and deal with Class B drugs with intent to evade prohibition on importingShots accompanying the wedding video, posted on YouTube to the backing track of Constellations by Jade LeMac, appear to have been filmed in Medina, Saudi Arabia.Qassim's Instagram and TikTok accounts showed him travelling across the world to Thailand and Somalia, including in one shot, riding a white horse on the beach.After Jay Slater's disappearance dominated the headlines in 2024, Qassim broke his silence to tell the Daily Mail: 'He came to my Airbnb alive and he left my Airbnb alive.'He later told an inquest in Preston in July last year that he invited Mr Slater back to his rented holiday cottage after a rave in Tenerife hours before he vanished on June 17.Qassim said when they got to his Airbnb he gave Mr Slater a blanket and pillow and told him he could sleep on the sofa before going off to his own bed.He said he was woken a short time later by a couple pressing the buzzer because they wanted him to move his car.When he left his car Mr Slater came towards him and said he was leaving and to 'catch a bus' to go back to his apartment, Qassim told the court.He said he told Mr Slater there were no buses and warned him against it.Qassim said he told Mr Slater to wait and he would drive him back later but he replied his friends were waiting for him.Qassim said he went back to sleep, presuming Mr Slater was waiting at the bus stop.Senior Coroner Dr James Adeley ruled that Mr Slater died an accidental death from instant head injuries and severe trauma after falling 20-25m down a steep ravine in Tenerife's Rural de Teno national park.One of Crisp's former neighbours told the Daily Mail: 'We understand she went to Thailand and got married to this Somalian man. Good riddance.'Crisp appeared at her sentencing alongside Tasia Nelson, 22, of Newquay, Cornwall, and Jaden Ramen, 23, of Merton, London.The rest of the gang had previously been convicted. Pictured: The seized suitcases and extracted cannabis after officers foiled the drug plot in 2024 Crisp and her accomplices were stopped at Birmingham Airport border with 460kg of the class B drugCarsten Kyei, 21, from Plaistow, London and Nathan Vitorino, 26, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, were both found guilty after a three-week trial on May 26.Bradley Lloyd, 27, of Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester, and Lewis Ross, 35, of Bolton, Lancashire, changed their plea to guilty during the same trial.Claire McCullough, 36, of Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester, Ryan Boachie, 32, of Edmonton, London, Gideon Oluwasetemi Olumoyegun, 26, of Dagenham, London, and Jamal Clarke, 22, of Mile End, London, all pleaded guilty at a previous hearing.Olumoyegun, Boachie and McCullough were also jailed for two years each, with McCullough to serve a consecutive two-month sentence for assaulting a shop worker.Ramen was jailed for 32 months.Paul Boniface, senior investigating officer at the National Crime Agency, said: 'These couriers are now facing time in prison and life-altering convictions that put future career and travel prospects in serious peril.'Their cases should serve as a warning to others that it's not worth the risk, and the price paid is simply too high.'We are grateful to our partners at Border Force who discovered these drugs.'The NCA will continue to do all we can to stop drugs being smuggled into the UK and deprive criminal groups of profits.'