CLUTCHING their duty-free bags the bronzed Brits stepping off the flight from Bangkok look like any other holidaymakers, but as they shuffle towards customs, a multi-million-pound secret is hiding beneath their beach towels.
Sneaky crime syndicates are recruiting ordinary sunseekers on Instagram to pack their luggage with illegal cannabis.
Poppie Kudiersky tried to smuggle £285,000 worth of cannabis into the UK from Thailand Credit: Cavendish
Poppie in Thailand before she was arrested. Credit: Cavendish
What started as a glamorous free holiday turns into a life-shattering nightmare in an instant.
Brits have been warned they face two years in a tough Thai jail if they are caught trying to smuggle cannabis back to the UK – as new figures revealed a staggering 600 couriers have been arrested at UK airports so far this year.
Among the couriers previously caught are former Arsenal and Ipswich Town striker who was for smuggling 60kg worth £600,000 into Stansted airport in September 2024.
He persuaded his girlfriend and her female pal to join him on a free holiday in Thailand.
Jay Emmanuel-Thomas was jailed in June last year for smuggling cannabis worth £600,000 into Stansted Credit: officialjet10/Instagram
The footballer was found with 60kg of the drug Credit: Unpixs
Last December, young mum after trying to smuggle £285,000 worth of cannabis into Manchester airport in February 2024.
She and companion Dutch national Mohammed Jacfer, 26, were stopped with two suitcases containing 28.5kg of the drug.
Pictures on her social media showed Kudiersky on the beach in Phuket, sipping cocktails, riding a jetski and taking a boat trip to the Phi Phi islands.
She faced jail after pleading guilty to importing cannabis but was given two years in prison suspended for two years after claiming she received threats that her child would be harmed unless she did what she was told. Jacfer was handed a two year sentence.
On Monday, Amy Durban, of Cullompton, Devon, was arrested by Border Force officers at Heathrow Airport having arrived from Bangkok.
Durban, 45, is alleged to have been carrying suitcases containing 51.2kg of cannabis with a street value of at least £512,000.
She will appear in court in August.
Influencer who smuggled £150,000 worth of cannabis into Scotland from Thailand, was also sentenced to 16 months in jail in April, after being arrested at Glasgow airport.
But the NCA are warning that being caught in Thailand risks a much harsher sentence as well as hefty new fines.
In March last year, Daniel James Hallett, from Hull, was told he would face up to 10 years in jail after he was arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle 38 kilos of cannabis through Thailand’s Krabi airport.
Haulage boss Hallett, 39, was detained by customs officials as he allegedly attempted to board the flight to London with 35 vacuum-sealed packs of cannabis flowers in two giant suitcases.
He is thought to be awaiting trial in a Thai jail and could be given up to ten years.
, who was 18 and pregnant when she was arrested in Georgia, in May last year, had also come from Thailand.
She was found found with 12kg of cannabis and 2kg of hashish in her luggage after being recruited by a drug gang in Thailand, while on a backpacking trip.
She spent more than five months in a tough Tblisi jail before being released on compassionate grounds, in November.
Penalties for stronger drugs, such as cocaine, are even harsher. Babyface Brit George Wilson, from Buckinghamshire, after allegedly being found with nine kilograms of methamphetamine in a Bangkok hotel room.
Influencer Ellie Crampsie was arrested after flying home to Scotland with the drugs Credit: Instagram
She was sentenced to 16 months in jail in April Credit: Instagram
The 23-year-old was arrested in October and is still awaiting trial.
The National Crime Agency revealed more than three drug mules a day are being stopped at customs as they return from Thailand with suitcases packed with the Class C drugs.
Many are offered glamorous holidays in popular destinations including Bangkok, Koh Samui and Koh Phi Phi in return for bringing back illegal hauls.
Unsuspecting Brits are told the risks of being caught are lower as Thailand decriminalised possession of cannabis in 2022.
In 2023, 142 cannabis smugglers were caught arriving in the UK by plane.
The following year that number rocketed to 801 – a 464 per cent increase.
The figure rose again in 2025 to 976.
And 2026 is on track to be even worse with 600 air passenger couriers arrested at UK airports in the first six months alone.
Bella Culley was pregnant when she was jailed in Georgia after flying from Thailand
The teenager had been persuaded to carry the drugs by a Thai gang
Under the new fines regime, smugglers will have to pay Thai Customs 30,000 Baht (around £680) per kilo of cannabis.
The “average” smuggler is caught in Thailand with 26 kilos – equalling a fine of £17,680, and if it’s not paid they face up to two years in jail.
Speaking at a press conference in Bangkok this week, Beki Wright, Head of the NCA’s Borders Threat Team, warned would-be couriers: “You will be kept in Thai detention until you have found the money to pay or for two years. The crime group that paid you to smuggle it will leave you high and dry.
“If convicted, you face potentially life-changing jail sentences both in the UK and especially abroad. You’ll also have a criminal record, which could wreck future job prospects and your ability to travel abroad. It just isn’t worth the risk.”
George Wilson was arrested in Bangkok and jailed in Thailand Credit: Asia Pacific Press
Thai police released this picture of George, allegedly with packages of narcotics Credit: Asia Pacific Press via ViralPress
The new rules were introduced on 17 June and between then and 6 July, 55 smugglers have been caught, including 21 British nationals.
Most UK cannabis couriers are approached by crime groups on social media.
They are offered free holidays and spending money in exchange for smuggling cannabis.
But many are caught, either abroad or on arrival in the UK, with most seizures taking place at Heathrow, Stansted, Manchester and Birmingham airport.
Thailand has emerged as the lead source country of imported cannabis, overtaking the USA and Canada in 2024.
Cannabis is the biggest single drug consumed in the UK and is increasingly being imported, typically from countries where cannabis is legal or decriminalised.
Phanthong Loykulnanta, Director General of Thai Customs, said: “We believe that our new enforcement measure marks an important milestone in strengthening Thailand’s efforts to combat the illegal export of cannabis.”
In February last year, a joint operation between Thai and UK officers at Bangkok Airport saw 65 couriers stopped from exporting over two tonnes of cannabis worth around £6 million.
In 2022, UK law enforcement seized 2.1 tonnes of cannabis from air passengers
By 2025 it had increased to more than 28 tonnes being seized.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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