British mother, 45, is caught smuggling £500,000 of Thai cannabis into UK after boasting she was 'on her way home to cut the grass'

By WILL HALLOWELL, NEWS REPORTER Published: 11:22, 7 August 2026 | Updated: 11:22, 7 August 2026 A British mother has admitted smuggling more than £500,000 of Thai cannabis into the UK after boasting that she was 'on her way home to cut the grass'.  Amy Jayne Durban, 45, was arrested by Border Force officers on July 6 after being caught with two suitcases 'stuffed' with the Class B drug.  She was attempting to bring the 51.2kg haul, with a street value of £512,000, into Britain via Heathrow Airport after flying in from Bangkok, Thailand.   Durban, of Hemyock, Cullompton, in Devon, was at the centre of an investigation by the National Crime Agency when she was arrested.  In a cryptic Facebook post just days before her arrest, the 45-year-old boasted: 'On her way home to cut the grass if you know what I mean.  'No ETA so you won't know I'm about to hit your lawn.'  She was remanded into custody on Thursday after pleading guilty to smuggling the cannabis at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court, before being sentenced on October 14.  Prosecuting, James O'Connell told the court that Durban had also travelled to Thailand in May, but there was currently no evidence of any smuggling on that occasion. Amy Jayne Durban, 45, was caught smuggling £500,000 of cannabis into the UK last month Pictured: The two suitcases stuffed with cannabis that were seized by Border Force officers at Heathrow Airport  Her phone has been sent for forensic download and examination and remains in a queue, he said. The court heard her partner was in the public gallery to support her and the couple own vape stores. The prosecution was opposed to her being bailed due to 'the risk of the commission of further offences' and said her brother had been arrested by a police force in the West Country in connection with possession of cannabis after a warrant was executed at his home. Durban was living with her partner at a remote address in Hemyock, Cullompton, Devon, at the time of her arrest. Defending, Alexander Shanks, said she will be submitting a basis of plea that she was pressured and coerced into taking part and is naive and immature. Mr O'Connell said without any evidence of coercion, this would not be accepted by the prosecution. He said: 'She was definitely a courier and was motivated by significant financial reward and hospitality.' The court heard that she had one previous conviction for battery from 2000 when she received a probation order for 18 months.  Durban has pleaded guilty to smuggling cannabis into the UK. She was remanded into custody after appearing at at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court on Thursday Pictured: Just days before her arrest, the 45-year-old was seen boasting in a Facebook post that she was 'on her way home to cut the grass'  Mr Shanks made an application for bail arguing she was struggling with significant mental health problems while on remand in HMP Bronzefield in Surrey. Judge Karen Holt rejected the application, suggesting she may be safer in prison. She said: 'There has been a very valuable consignment of drugs lost and you say she was under pressure. 'This is an extremely serious case and it could be a starting point of four years in prison.  'A valuable consignment has been lost and she has mental health problems and finds it hard in prison, but the court is concerned about further offences so she will be remanded following this guilty plea. 'I make it quite clear this is a significant large amount of cannabis and there is likely to be an immediate custodial sentence so I need to order a pre-sentence report.' The agency said drug mules are approached on social media by organised crime groups who offer them a 'free holiday' and 'spending money' in exchange for taking the cannabis into the UK.  According to the NCA, there has been an 'explosion' in the number of couriers trying to smuggle cannabis into Britain over the last three years.  In 2023, only 142 cannabis smugglers were caught arriving into the country by plane. However the following year this number skyrocketed to 801 - representing a 464 per cent increase in the space of 12 months.  In 2025, that figure continued to rise to 976 - and this year is 'on track to be even worse', according to the NCA, as 600 mules were arrested at UK airports in the first six months of the year alone. Durban's arrest came after the NCA announced a new crackdown on cannabis smuggling with Thai authorities. Smugglers now face huge fines, equating to £680 per kilogram. An 'average' mule is caught in Thailand with 26kg, meaning those caught could be hit with fines of £17,680 - or face a two-year sentence in a Thai prison if they do not pay.   Mark Abbott, senior investigating officer at the NCA, said: 'There are really bad outcomes at home and abroad when couriers are caught smuggling cannabis.  'As well as time in prison, a life-changing conviction will damage future career and travel prospects. 'People should understand that these crime groups use profits from cannabis smuggling to fund the trafficking of other drugs too.  'All of those drugs fuel wider crime in our communities and have a toxic effect on people's lives.'