THE National Crime Agency is warning travellers arriving into the UK from Thailand, Canada and the United States that they face jail sentences if caught attempting to bring cannabis into the country, after a huge increase in arrests.

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 2024 total is a staggering increase on the two tonnes seized in 2022.

More than half of those arrested in 2023 (71) had flown in from US airports, 24 from Thailand and 24 from Canada.

Around half of all arrests (184) this year 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.

Passengers were most often found to be carrying between 15 and 40 kilos of cannabis inside their checked-in luggage.

In one case, however, 51-year-old Spanish national Fernando Mayans Fuster was caught at Manchester Airport with eight suitcases containing 158 kilos of the drug, after arriving on a flight from Los Angeles in May this year. This is believed to be one of the largest passenger seizures of its kind at Manchester Airport.

Mayans Fuster was jailed for three years and four months at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on 19 July.

On 9 August, 11 British passengers were arrested at Birmingham Airport after a total of 510 kilos of cannabis was found inside 28 suitcases. All the passengers had travelled from Thailand, transiting at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. They have been bailed until 9 November pending further NCA investigation. Their cases are believed to be linked.

In some instances, officers have recovered electronic trackers with the drugs, believed to have been placed in there by organised criminals at source so they could follow the illicit loads.

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.”

Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Seema Malhotra said:

“Illegal drugs cause harm to communities and fuel criminal gangs. We will not tolerate people attempting to bring them into our country.

“Our Border Force officers are committed to finding and seizing cannabis and other illegal drugs, and last year Border Force seized a record amount of cannabis.

“Anyone caught bringing cannabis to the UK will face the full force of the law, and Border Force will continue to work relentlessly alongside the NCA to keep illegal substances off our streets.”

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.