Drug importer jailed after four years on the run

A man who fled Guernsey for four years after he was convicted of importing cannabis has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison.

Jamie Ferbrache, aged 31, was found guilty of attempting to import 9.37kgs of the Class B drug inside a rucksack in November 2020 but left the island before sentencing.

A joint operation by the Guernsey Border Agency and North Yorkshire Police found Ferbrache living and working in the UK, where he was arrested in February and brought back to the island.

On Wednesday the Royal Court found him guilty of importing cannabis, failure to provide access to his phone and failing to surrender to custody. He was sentenced to seven years and five months.

Ferbrache was arrested in 2019 for his involvement in the drug smuggling attempt which involved Guernsey Airport baggage handlers.

He had checked in a suitcase at Manchester Airport, which contained a rucksack with 9.37kg of cannabis resin inside, according to Guernsey Police.

On arrival in Guernsey, the rucksack was removed from his suitcase by one of his co-accused, who was working as an airport baggage handler at the time, the police said.

The baggage handler was arrested while Ferbrache and another person were stopped by customs officers.

Ferbrache had denied attempting to import the cannabis resin into Guernsey but was found guilty following a trial in November 2020.

Ferbrache was due to be sentenced in January 2021, alongside two co-accused, but failed to attend the Royal Court for sentencing.

Guernsey Police said he was later identified as having fled the island to the UK.

"In a targeted operation between the Guernsey Border Agency and North Yorkshire Police, Ferbrache was found to be living and working in Boroughbridge, North Yorkshire," the police said.

He was arrested in Boroughbridge on 20 February 2025.

Guernsey Police said failing to surrender to custody was "a serious offence impacting on the proper administration of justice".

"Bailiwick Law Enforcement officers will actively seek to pursue offenders who have absconded from this jurisdiction," it said.

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