A former Crystal Palace defender has been jailed for 14 years after being caught with £2.36million worth of crystal meth.
Michael Boateng, who played a ‘significant role’ in an organised crime group, was arrested on Valentine’s Day in 2024 ater police found 19.7kg of the Class A drug in a Slazenger sports bag at the Croydon flat he shared with his girlfriend and then two-month-old son.
The discovery is thought to be one of the biggest ever crystal meth busts on UK soil.
Back in September, the 34-year-old admitted intent to supply crystal meth, cocaine, and MDMA at Croydon Crown Court.
Boateng, wearing a blue prison ‘Mental Health Ambassador’ t-shirt and grey tracksuit bottoms, sat motionless as the judge read out his sentence.
Croydon Crown Court heard on June 20 how Peckham-born Boateng had been ‘doing well’ while working as a personal trainer and in close protection between 2018 and 2023.
But in 2022, the Metropolitan Police made Boateng aware of an immediate threat to his life, known as an Osman Warning.
Paul Crampin, for the defence, told the court: ‘He was told there was a credible threat against his life.
‘As a result of that, his partner at the time essentially refused him access to their family.
‘They cut him off completely from his son. It caused Mr Boateng to experience a period of stress and depression.
‘One of the consequences of that was that he became involved in drug use.
‘He started using Class A drugs… he was then involved in the small-scale supply of drugs to essentially people he knew… at that stage it was to fund his own Class A drug habit.’
In September 2023, Boateng was stopped by police officers in the Bromley area of South London after acting suspiciously.
He ran from officers into Cromford Close before a dog unit found a snap bag with 19 wraps of cocaine, which had been discarded over a garden wall.
When he was arrested, he had two iPhones on him and £102 in cash.
John Carmichael, prosecuting, told the court how a search of Boateng’s flat in Croydon found 14 additional wraps of cocaine, 32 tablets of MDMA, and one block of 22 grams of MDMA.
The overall street value of the cocaine and MDMA stood at between £3,000 and £4,180, the court heard.
Cops also found 26 bags of Ketamine, with a street value of £260 to £520, and £1,570 in cash.
Boateng said nothing at the interview and later pleaded guilty to intent to supply cocaine and MDMA and possession of ketamine.
He was granted bail on the condition he abided by a curfew and reported regularly to a police station.
But on February 14, 2024, police raided Boateng’s new address, also in Croydon, where he lived with his new girlfriend and the couple’s then two-month-old son, who had been born on Christmas Day 2023.
A Slazenger sports bag with 19.7kg of crystal meth was found in the hallway of the property.
CCTV showed Boateng arriving seven days earlier and dumping the bag down in the same position after being handed it outside the property.
The court heard the crystal meth had a wholesale value of £200,000 to £400,000 but a street value of between £1,182,000 and £2,364,000.
‘He is clearly trusted within an organisation, holding onto a significant amount of drugs’, Mr Carmichael said.
But Mr Crampin said that while there was no dispute over the weight of the drugs Boateng possessed, it could not be ruled out that Boateng was not a victim of ‘coercion or intimidation’ from organised criminals when holding onto the drugs.
Judge Daniel Flahive told the court it was clear Boateng played a ‘significant role’ within an organised crime group and his standing in the drug trafficking network was ‘not a matter of negotiation’.
He added: ‘He had some awareness and understanding of the operation. This does put him squarely in the significant book.
‘At the moment, I can’t see how this falls into a lesser role.’
In his closing statement, Judge Flahive said: ‘You were playing a significant role in the drug-dealing enterprise. Your role was not minimal.
‘The amount of drugs we are talking about, just shy of 20kg, the value at street level, we are talking potentially millions of pounds.
‘The reason for the 14 years will be to reflect the sheer quantity of drugs you were looking after in the period of time, and reminding myself this was an offence that was committed while on bail for the earlier case.
‘When you are released you will be subject to licence, the licence will have conditions attached to it. You can go down now.’
Boateng was on the books at Crystal Palace as a teenager between 2005 and 2007 when they were competing in the Championship.
The defender went on to play for Bristol Rovers before having spells at Bromley, Sutton United, Newport County, and non-league Whitehawk.
In December 2013, he was sacked by Whitehawk after being charged following a match-fixing probe.
He was sentenced to 16 months in prison in June 2014, and the following January, he got a lifetime ban from football. He was jailed again in June 2015 for drug dealing.
