A HAUL of 510kilos of cannabis was uncovered in one day at Birmingham Airport earlier this month.
The stash was found in 28 suitcases on August 9, leading to the arrest of 11 British travellers who are believed to have travelled from from Thailand via Paris Charles de Gaulle.
All have been bailed until November 9.
This has led the National Crime Agency (NCA) to issue a warning that drug smugglers faced hefty jail sentences if they were caught after a huge increase in arrests involving flights arriving from Thailand, Canada and the United States.
So far this year, 378 people have been arrested in connection with investigations into cannabis smuggling by air passengers.
An estimated 15 tonnes of cannabis was detected and seized at UK airports in the same period – already around three times more than in the whole of 2023, when approximately 5 tonnes of cannabis was seized and 136 people were arrested.
The NCA say 184 arrests – around half half – related to cannabis that originated in Thailand, while 75 arrests related to cannabis originating from Canada, and 47 to cannabis from the US.
People travelling with the drugs as couriers reported being told by their recruiters that they were only risking a fine if caught. However, the maximum sentence for cannabis importation in the UK is up to 14 years in prison.
This year 196 people have already been convicted and handed sentences totalling almost 188 years.
The NCA say passengers were most often found to be carrying between 15 and 40 kilos of cannabis inside their checked-in luggage.
NCA experts say the trend is being fuelled by these organised crime gangs who have access to cannabis grown overseas in locations where it is legal, and recruiting couriers to transport it to the UK where it can generate greater profit for them than growing the drugs themselves.
The NCA continues to work with law enforcement partners in both the UK and overseas to target high-risk routes, seize shipments of drugs and disrupt the criminal gangs involved, denying them profits.
NCA director general of threats, James Babbage, said: “In some cases it is unclear whether the mules knew what the potential penalties are but in most cases they were operating on behalf of organised criminal gangs.
“And it is those couriers who are running the risk of a potentially life-changing prison sentence.
“Gangs can make significant profits by selling and smuggling perceived high-quality cannabis legally grown in the USA, Canada and Thailand illegally in the UK.
“The NCA is actively working with partners like Border Force here in the UK, and law enforcement internationally to target those involved in drug supply, including the networks behind it. Targeting those smugglers who play a crucial role in the supply chain is one way we can do that.
“We would appeal to anyone who is approached to engage in smuggling to think very carefully about the potential consequences of their actions, and the risks they will run.
“We know organised criminals can be persuasive, and offer to pay couriers. But the risks of getting caught are high, and it just isn’t worth that risk.”
Anyone with information on the smuggling of drugs through UK ports is urged to report it, anonymously if they prefer, by calling Border Force’s Customs Hotline on 0800 595 000.
